P3: Days of Desolation
by CipherPrinceofDreams
Summary: Given only three years to prepare for another onslaught of Shadows, Minato Arisato assembles an army of his friends, and allies from Inaba. With the coming of Nyx, people from other worlds were forced into the land of Iwatodai. He meets a talented girl, Minako Arisato, an Exile. Will their army finally sunder the Shadows? Or will the Shadows shroud the world in a second Darkness?
1. The Lander and the Exile

**Days of Darkness**

 **A/N: Hey guys, how do you do? This story is gonna be good, I guarantee it. Now, I know I'm not famed for continuing stories (I have lots that wasn't well-recieved) but I assure you this story will continue (I had written most of the story) and will feature characters from Attack on Titan (episode 10) so be patient! Not to bore you with details, details and more details, I'll wrote the rest of the AN at the bot.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

 _January 30, 2010..._

 _A day of epic proportions. Legions of creatures known as "Shadows" suddenly appeared out of nowhere and attacked the bay city of Iwatodai, Japan._

 _They had arrived to herald their creator, Nyx, and once she arrived and made contact with the Lord of Shadows, Erebus, the world would be engulfed in Darkness._

 _Only through the intervention of an elite vigilante group of student fighters, the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad (SEES), was the world saved. They cut a path through the horde of Shadows and made their way to the top of Tartarus, the Shadow's Lair._

 _Their elite member, Minato Arisato, a boy of 17, confronted the Personification of the Night, Nyx, singlehandedly, and sealed her away using his soul._

 _He fell into a deep coma for three days, but regained consciousness on the third. He couldn't recall what happened with Nyx, only that they formed a deal before he sealed her. A deal that would be fulfilled in three years._

 _Unfortunately, the arrival of Nyx also allowed thousands of "outsiders", some who were thrown there due to the coming of Nyx, and others whose homes were also destroyed by Shadows, to flee into the refuge of our world through a phenomenon known as the "Abyss of Time". The Grand Seal of Nyx tied their fate with our world. They were to be known as the "Exiles". Very few chose to integrate themselves into the local population. A third of the Exiles chose to side with the Shadows who devoured their realm, and were known as "Dark Exiles", or "the Betrayers", while the remaining Exiles remained neutral, living outside society as second-class citizens. They were simply called 'Exiles'. They were often mistreated by the natives of Japan, they called "Person of the Land", "Lander" or just "Native"._

 _The Government became aware of Shadows and Shadows began to roam the world at night, though they did not cause major trouble, except target those with the Potential. Though, life was never the same again, the world was still at peace._

 _For now._

Minato Arisato prepared for the opening day in college, and he was excited. Never in all his years of running and hiding from Shadows did he expect he'd live that long. Now seemed like a dream come true. Together with Junpei, they headed off to the Imperial Iwatodai University, located east of Iwatodai.

"We're in for the long haul, eh bro?" Junpei said as he dressed up.

"Yeah." Minato said, "Though, I heard some of those Exiles are enrolling there."

"Heh! Exiles!" Junpei scoffed, "The guys at school say they're with the Shadows!"

"Not all." Minato said, "Some of them hate the Shadows as much as we do. You do know their homelands were destroyed by Shadows, right?"

"I suppose. But most just HAD to join up with the Shadows! And the rest who DON'T join with the Shadows are out on our streets."

"That could have been us if we failed, bro." Minato said, "Besides, not like they have a choice."

"I wonder how some of them managed to get in I.I.U.?" Junpei wondered.

"Well, Mitsuru-senpai starting a scholarship program for Exile Scholars. Most of them grabbed the opportunity." Minato said.

"Well, that's pretty generous of Senpai." Junpei said, "After all, it was a little bit of the Kirijo Group's fault, right?"

"Not like she had anything to do with it directly..." Minato frowned. Nearly 14 years after the accident at the Kirijo Group, and still Mitsuru Kirijo, the well respected and highly regarded heiress of the Kirijo Group, is still paying for the sins of her grandfather. She, after all, was a subject of her Grandfather's sick experimentations that resulted in her gaining the ability to summon a Persona.

"Yeah..." Junpei frowned as well, remembering how Chidori, his girlfriend, was a subject of those experimentations.

They passed by an Exile man, who was peddling school supplies by the street. Wanting to help out, Minato bought a handful of pens, while Junpei bought a ballcap and a candy bar. The peddler thanked them in broken Japanese.

"Now I kinda feel bad about these guys." Junpei said sadly.

"Yeah. What's worse is that nearly all of them have the Potential. Not a day goes by where they aren't attacked by the Shadows..." Minato said, "We have to help them out."

"How?" Junpei said, unwrapping the candy bar and chomping down.

"Well... I'm not sure yet." Minato admitted, "Maybe something to defend them, like a shelter or a club."

"Not gonna work." Junpei said, "The amount of people who don't like the Exiles... Probably more than half the town. No one will want to defend them."

"There must be something we can do?" Minato said, "How about we form some kind of self defence force?"

"Like the Japan S.D.F.?" Junpei said, "Sounds like a good idea! I could help instruct them in the Way of the Sword."

"Junpei, first of all, you hold your sword like a baseball bat." Minato said, before remembering something, "I forgot my Registration Sheet at home!"

"Dude, you better hurry up." Junpei said, "I'll head on ahead and hold the line."

Minato nodded and began running. He managed to reach home within five minutes, and grabbed his sheet. He made a beeline for the University, turned around a corner when he suddenly collided with a woman. They both fell on top of each other, rolled down the slope before crashing into a lamp post.

"Ow!" She groaned weakly, "What the hell, man...?"

Minato was dazed but looked into the woman's face. Her face was heart shaped and lovely. Her eyes were ruby red. Her red hair was long, but fashioned into a tight ponytail with four hairclips (styled as XXII), that left spikes bristling in the back. Her pale skin was like alabaster. She looked beautiful, but at the same time, dangerous. Her arms, neck, and torso were covered in scars.

"I'm sorry," Minato apologized weakly

"You think you can get your hand off my ass?" She said. Minato blushed before withdrawing his hand from the tangled mess of legs and limbs before getting up. He offered a hand to the fallen woman, but she proudly got up on her own. She looked at Minato intently.

"...Did you push me down because I was an Exile...?" She said cautiously.

"What? Why would I do that?" Minato said in surprise.

"If you did," she hissed, "I'm gonna beat the living shit out of you!"

"I swear!" Minato pleaded, "Plus, you don't need to beat me up. I think I already broke my ribs and my coccyx..."

She narrowed her eyes and sized him up, "... Okay, fine, I believe you." She muttered after a while.

"Um, my name is Minato Arisato." Minato said, extending his hand.

The Exile looked at his hand warily before shaking it, "Minako Arisato."

Minato felt strange. He was quite sure they weren't related, being from other worlds and all, but he somehow felt a connection with her.

"Mind doing me a favor?" Minako said.

"Oh, yeah, sure!" Minato cried immediately, wanting to make up for sending the young woman down the slope.

"I'm headed to this school, Iwatodai Imperial-Something-something. I can't really find my way around this town. Mind helping me out?"

"I was actually headed there right now." Minato said, "You can come with me."

Minako nodded and picked up her belongings, "Let's go then, Minato."

Minato smiled awkwardly and they went off. Minato couldn't help but steal glances at Minako's direction. He did not feel attracted to her, but he felt as if he knew her from somewhere. As if they were meant to meet.

"Are you an enrollee as well?" She asked suddenly.

"Second year," Minato said.

"Me too." Minako nodded, "Well, at least I know someone now."

"Yeah." Minato said, "So, uh, I wanna ask something..."

"Yes?"

"Why did you think I pushed you?" Minato asked.

She shrugged, "It's the kind of thing people around here do. One even stuck gum to my hair."

"Really?!" Minato cried in shock, "Unbelievable..."

"Yeah." Minako nodded, "Of course, I sent that idiot to the hospital with a broken nose..."

Minato laughed, but Minako's face remained passive, as if she was serious.

"So, uh, where are you from...?"

"You know," Minako said suddenly, "If you want to ask if I'm an Exile, the answer is yes."

Minato nodded, "Shadows?"

She nodded, "Yep. Those things devoured everything our world."

"Bastards." Minato hissed.

"Yeah. I heard about you, by the way." Minako winked, "You're something of a celebrity among the Exile Community."

Minato blushed. He didn't like attention and preferred not to be praised for something he needed to do, "Is that so?"

"Yes, it is... Oh great Messiah." Minako said, sweeping an arm and bowing in jest. She then smiled at Minato.

"C-Come on, now..." Minato said and they both laughed.

"You know, I pictured you... taller, more imposing." Minako said, "You aren't exactly scary to look at. You look like you'd prefer to sleep all day and listen to music."

Minato nodded, because that was what he preferred to do all day, "Well, looks are often misleading."

Minato and Minako continued walking, before they came across a blonde Exile, a student of IIU.

"Heeeey Minako." He greeted cheerily, "Who's the Lander?"

"Hey Lee." She greeted, "This is Minato Arisato, you know, the guy who beat the shit out of them Shadows?"

The Exile, Lee, widened his eyes, "No way."

"Way." Minako winked.

"How much did she pay you to go out with her?" Lee asked Minato.

Minako's face contorted with rage, and she smacked Lee, "G-Get out of here!"

"Alright, alright... It was nice meeting you!" Lee said before taking off.

"As you can see..." Minako huffed, "Some Exiles have no decorum..."

Minato laughed and they continued. When they arrived at IIU, Minako seemed impressed.

"Our schools back home are much more smaller..." She mused, "They certainly don't look this inviting."

"Come on," Minato said, "Junpei's waiting for us."

"Who's Junpei?" Minako asked.

"He's, well, he's a Junpei." Minato said simply.

When Minato and Minako arrived, Junpei was crossing his arms and seemed livid.

"I hold the line for you for the sake of our friendship and brotherhood... AND YOU GO RUNNING OFF TO PICK UP GIRLS?!" He roared so loudly that the registrar jumped in surprise.

Minako closed in on Minato, "I see now."

Minato nodded, "Junpei, gimme a break. This is Minako. She's new around here and didn't know where the school was. I just met her."

"Oh, a likely story!" Junpei huffed, and muttered.

Someone tapped Minato from behind. It was Yukari Takeba, She wasn't Minato's official girlfriend, but they had a mutual understanding and dated regularly.

"Hi." She greeted cheerily.

"Hey Yukari-chan." Minato smiled, "Finished with enrollment?"

"Just need to present my receipt." Minato said.

She looked at Minako and smiled, "Who's you're friend?"

"Oh, sorry..." Minato said, "This is Minako Arisato. She's an Exile friend I just met. We're not related."

Minako smiled politely, "Hello."

"Ah..." Yukari smiled, "I'm Yukari Takeba."

"I know. Everyone at SEES is well known at the Exile Community." She said. Yukari blushed.

"Hey, what about me? I'm a part of SEES!" Junpei cried indignantly.

"Really?!" Minako gasped in shock.

Junpei purpled with rage.

"Relax, Junpei." Yukari rolled her eyes, "It's not like we did anything special or anything."

"Oh, right... We only saved the world. That's no big deal!" Junpei said sarcastically.

"Grow up..." Yukari sighed.

"A-Anyway, we'd better finish up." Minato said to dispel the situation. After filing more forms and whatnot, they were finally enrolled. Yukari, who had already finished enrolling, went to her class. Junpei left with Kenji.

Minako looked at Minato, "Thanks for helping me. You're the first native who befriended me. Therefore, I'm treating you to ramen! That's what you guys eat around here, right?"

"Yes, as per stereotype, I'm required to say 'that's right'." Minato said with a smile.

They went over to the Hagakure, where Minako took a long whiff at the delicious ramen-saturated air. They quickly ordered several bowls of ramen, which the two inhaled with gusto.

"Yumyum..." Minako sighed, "I love eating here! The stuff is actually pretty good."

"Yeah. I ate plenty of times back in the day." Minato said, rubbing his belly.

Minako wiped her mouth, "So, are we friends now, officially?"

"Of course. I mean, you don't need to ask permission to be friends. You just do it." Minato said.

"I see. Okay then, as friends, let's make a deal of always going out to have an eating contest. Loser has to pay. Deal?" Minako said with a fiery look.

"Ehhhh..." Minato said nervously. He didn't want to put pressure on Minako by forcing her to pay if she lost.

"I'm not poor, by the way." Minako rolled her eyes, "Back in my homeland, I fought the Shadows too. They dropped a lot of gold. I brought it over this world. Besides, I'm fairly certain you'll do most of the paying!"

"Oh, is that so?" Minato said competitively.

"Is that a deal?" Minako cried, "Shake on it!"

Minato took her hand and shook it, "Deal!"

After they left, Minato was surprised to learn she lived near his street. He also found out that Minako was a fun friend to have, as she constantly made jokes and seemed comfortable with Minato.

"So, in your world, what weapon did you use?" Minato asked.

"I used a lance. I called it "Sanguine Rose". I brought it over here during the Fall." She said with pride.

Minato whistled. He heard the Exiles were always armed, and Minako's testimony proved it.

"What happened to your world?" Minato asked.

Minako stopped. She darkened as a streak of pain flashed across her face. She stared into space and gasped at the malefic flashbacks of the destruction of her homeland, chills running through her body.

"I'm sorry." Minato said in embarrassment, "Don't answer that question."

Minako shook her head, but continued to shudder with horror, "No, i-it's fine... I just have a mild case of PTSD..."

"Mild?" Minato thought to himself. Minato held her hand and reassured her quietly.

"Look, I'm really sorry I upset you..." Minato said with guilt, "I'll make it up to you. Let me treat you to lunch tomorrow?"

Minako turned pale before returning to her usual hue, "Alright then!" She said cheerily, "It's a promise. Don't try to run from me because I know where you live!" She cried.

"So do I!" Minato said, "That makes no sense, though. Anyway, I'll see you again tomorrow, Exile!"

"Not if I see you first, Lander." She winked.

They promised to see each other tomorrow. They both felt rather excited and knew in their hearts that a long lasting friendship had just started between Exile and Lander.

 **A/N: What do you think of the story? As a special bonus, I will start accepting OCs (name, age, etc) for at least two or three chapters to a loyal reviewer. On the fifth Chapter, I'll accept Ocs. I'll PM those interested. But no assurance, okay? Your character will most likely die at some point (Shadows need to eat) which makes it more fun to make more OCs!**

 **Anyway, for any questions, clarifications or violent reactions, write a review and slam the review button, and I'll be sure to send you a PM or whatnot.**

 **Ciao.**

 **-C**


	2. Sherlock

_The darkness was heavy. The clouds rolled in from the north and engulfed an Exile Village with the inky darkness of the night._

 _Stumbling out of the village pub, an Exile had a few drinks with his friends after a hard day's work. Deciding to relieve himself on a wall, he took his position and relaxed. After answering the call of nature, he looked at his watch. It was almost midnight._

 _Suddenly, he felt as if someone- or something- was watching him intently._

 _"Who's there?!" He yelled. Silence answered him. He quickly fled the scene. There was something pursuing him, stalking him, and it wanted to kill him._

 _He turned to a dead end. Putting his back against the wall, he drew a pocket knife and faced his attacker. He was horrified._

 _It was a floating, formless mass of darkness. It moved like a black wisp of cloud, it had two blazing blue fires for eyes staring at him. Its mouth was lipless, and wide open, revealing its countless white fangs. It only had two arms. Two arms with nocturnal blades._

 _"Wh-What are you...?!" The Exile demanded._

 _"Darkness..." The Shadow groaned. Everything became dark. The Shadow pounced on its prey, as his shouts of death filled the entire village with dread._

The next day, Minato woke up and went downstairs for breakfast. After eating and making preparations, a knock on the door rapped twice. He opened it and saw Minako Arisato, the Exile. She wore the I.I.U. Uniform and had a slingbag.

"Yooooo, Minato." She winked, "Good morning. Ready to go?"

"Just a sec, I need to grab my bag; Feel free to come in." Minato said.

"Don't mind if I do," Minako said, stepping inside, "Nice place you have here."

"Thank you." Minato said.

"Huh. Interesting piece of design..." Minako mused, and took down notes.

"What's interesting?" Minato said.

"Nothing, nothing..." Minako said, "Apparently, Landers like to leave articles of underwear as 'art' and design."

"Say what?!" Minato fumed.

"Oh, sorry." Minako blushed, "It's this underwear by the lampshade titled 'Junpei'. I need to keep up with Lander culture if I'm to stay here long."

"Ehhhh..." Minato sighed, "That's not culture. That's just Junpei being a slob..." Minato said, picking up Junpei's underwear by the garter and tossing it. He then applied alcohol.

The two then set out.

Minako giggled, "You Landers are so funny..."

"Yeah, well..." Minato said, "What was your world like?"

"My world..." Minako mused wistfully, "To be honest, it's been so long since I lived in that world... I forgot everything about that place."

Minato looked at her with a deadpan expression, "It's been only three years, Minako!"

"Oh, yeah!" Minako said, suddenly remembering, "That's right. Hahaha! Well, my world... I lived in a land ruled by a Queen. Petty stuff. Nobles kept trying to kill her, but she flipped the script and executed them!"

"Sounds like Mitsuru..." Minato whispered.

"And-" she was about to begin, when she saw an Exile in his late teens, accompanied by Lee and another redheaded Exile. She groaned in annoyance and went closer to Minato.

"Ah, Arisato." The Redheaded Exile greeted, "Salutations!"

"What do you want, Quan?" She said coldly.

"Eh..." Quan faltered, "W-Well... Zen, tell her."

The Exile Zen cleared his throat, "We've come to fetch you for our meeting this afternoon."

"Oh yeah?" Minako said cooly, "What kind of meeting?"

The three looked at each other, "The secret kind."

Minako rolled her eyes, "Your meetings are a waste of time, Stryker."

"Yet you attended!" Quan cried.

"Yeah, once." Minako said.

Lee pointed at her, "You were once a fighter and a patriot. You've gone soft!"

"Say that again!" Minako demanded, shaking her fist, "Damn it, I came to this world to start again. And if I could live in peace, I will."

The three sighed, and walked away.

"What was that all about?" Minato said.

"Nothing. Those guys are trying to start a vigilante group to fight Shadows." Minako said, "It's a waste of time, of you ask me."

An Exile beggar came by Minako, "Spare change?"

"Look away, Minato." Minako suggested, "Look at the ground and keep walking."

After walking some distance away, Minato asked, "Why are you like that to your fellow Exiles?"

"Well..." Minako sighed, "I realized a while back that Exiles need to become Landers in order to help their fellow Exiles. Does it make sense?"

"A little." Minato said.

"Every Exile's dream is to either return home or become a citizen here. Since going home is an unlikely scenario, citizenship is our only option."

"Those guys mentioned you were a fighter. Is that true?" Minato inquired.

She nodded, "That's correct. I don't like fighting though." She sighed sadly.

Minato nodded as they entered school. After a hectic day, they returned home. Junpei was on the couch, as usual, watching TV.

"Hey bro." Junpei greeted.

"Hey man." Minato greeted. He poured out some cereal and noisily munched and crunched.

"What's with you and that Minako girl?" Junpei grinned, "You two dating?"

"No!" Minato cried, "I just met her yesterday."

"Suuuure, that's what you WANT us all to believe!" Junpei cried, and then stood up and pointed an accusing finger at Minato, "But in fact, you two had known each other for a long time and are in fact planning to elope!"

Minato plopped his mouth open in surprise, "What?"

"You can't hide from an Ace Detective. See, my suspicions were first aroused when you told me to 'go ahead to school'... It should have taken you no less than 20 minutes to run home and grab your stuff and head back!"

Minato scratched his head. He wanted to stop Junpei making a fool of himself, but he decided to listen to his hypothesis.

"Even taking your little 'detour' with the Exile into account, it's unrealistic that you took another 20 minutes to arrive at school, despite the fact you were already halfway there by the time of your detour! Or were you two planning your escape?"

Minato sighed at the insanity of the situation.

"And by the time you arrived at school, you were about to part ways with Minako, when I saw you two. With your plan foiled, you came up with a phoney-baloney alibi about recently meeting that strange hot redhead. Mystery. Solved." Junpei said, pulling out a pipe.

For a few seconds, Minato was speechless, "... Hey, Inspector Gadget, that sounds exactly like the plot of the anime you're watching."

"Aw, crap, man, how did you know?!" Junpei cried in exasperation.

"I heard the theme song on the way down. Good improv by the way." Minato said.

"Thanks!" Junpei said, "I just rolled with it."

Minato continued eating, "She seems nice."

"Oh, that hottie you met? Yeah, she's seems nice alright..." Junpei said, "Nice face, nice hair, nice body, nice a-" Junpei said lecherously.

"Alright, alright!" Minato interrupted, "Geez, man. Look at you! You're like a thirsty dog!"

"What?! Am I NOT supposed to appreciate a woman in her form? I'm a freaking man, for crying out loud!" He cried.

"I thought you wanted to get married with Chidori, settle down and have two kids?" Minato said.

"Well, of course I do!" Junpei said, "Jeez, Minato, you sound like the Dad I never had."

"Just keeping it real, bro." Minato said, "Hey, where is Chidori anyway? I haven't seen her since our Nyx Anniversary Party."

"Oh, she has a job at Mitsuru-senpai as a Secretary." Junpei explained, "Saving up for my- I mean OUR future." Junpei winked.

"Oh boy." Minato rolled his eyes. He flipped it on the news.

"This just in: Another dead body found on an Exile Village 3 miles away from Iwatodai. We have Mariko-chan live with the report."

The scene cut to Mariko, which made Junpei coo with passion, "A shocking murder has shattered the relative peace of the quaint village of Hiemstead."

The scene cut to a family of four crying over a heavily mutilated body, which luckily, was heavily blurred. The body was so brutalized, that the blur almost had no effect. The cameraman actually got sick and vomited offscreen.

Mariko, although visibly disgusted at the cameraman's vomiting, continued, "The man was identified by the Iwa Prefectural Police to be a male Exile in his late forties. He was walking home around midnight when he was assaulted and murdered by unknown assailants. Foul play had been ruled out and so was robbery. The man's wallet remained intact. The Police suspect Shadows are involved, and if that were true, it would mark the 14th time this month that a Shadow assaulted citizen's of Iwatodai and the Exiles. Time can only tell what would happen next. Back to you, Milly."

Minato took a deep breath, "The Shadows are getting bolder and bolder..."

"Oh, by the way," Junpei said, producing a letter from his pocket, "This came for you this morning."

Minato opened the letter, and read it, "Your love is like a bloom... It takes away all my gloom...?"

Junpei rose up and snatched it, "That's private! My daily letter for Chidori. This is the letter." He hands Minato a sealed letter, with the Kirijo Group Insignia.

"Must be important." Minato said with determination. He opened it and read the contents.

"Dear Minato,

You are formally invited for tea with CEO Mitsuru Kirijo this afternoon, signed Chidori Yoshino."

"Huh. Mitsuru wants to invite me for tea." Minato said in surprise.

"She wants the 'D'." Junpei said lecherously.

"Junpei, come on." Minato chided.

"Alright, alright," Junpei said, putting his hands in the air, "It's not like mere mortals like me could snag all the girls I want."

"Believe me, it's a damn curse." Minato sighed.

"You bite your tongue!" Junpei demanded, "It's one thing to resurrect from the dead and another thing snagging any girl you want. Jeez! That's like slapping the Lord in the face for giving you a beautiful gift."

"Yeah, whatever man..." Minato sighed and got ready after he was finished, he headed to the Kirijo Group. After ascending to the 21st floor, he was ushered in by Chidori.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice," Mitsuru said, "I trust you've heard to this morning's incident?"

Minato nodded.

"Now... I'd like to get down to business..." Mitsuru said, setting down her teacup.

"V-Very well!" Minato cried, thinking Mitsuru wanted him to work for her.

"As you probably know, the Shadow attacks have become bolder and bolder by the day. It will not likely diminish until we do something about it."

"You're right." Minato said, "But my fighting days are over now. I haven't picked up my sword since the Fall..."

"True. But these times are different. The Shadows have become more active in the Desolate Mountains north of here. I fear they'll strike the City if they remain unchecked and unchallenged." Mitsuru said.

"What do you propose we do?" Minato said.

"Right. I propose we reform the SEES and put an end to the Shadows." Mitsuru said, "But if I thought that alone would be enough, I wouldn't have called you here today. In World War 2, Adolf Hitler trained 3 million German soldiers in secret, using the pretense of 'Gun Clubs' and 'Youth Organizations' to conceal their paramilitary training."

"Your point?"

"My point is that we need strength in arms. No longer can we rely on a small band of fighters. No, we need an army." Mitsuru said.

Minato nearly choked, "An army?"

"Yes, an Army." Mitsuru nodded.

"The government wouldn't allow it. Even if it were allowed, the U.N. would go ballistic if we were to create an Army, other than the Japanese Self Defense Force!" Minato cried.

"Yes, that may be true. But who said it needed to strictly be an army?" Mitsuru said, "It's strikingly similar to how the Germans of World War 2 trained in secret. By bypassing local laws with loopholes, I've devised that if we were to make this 'Army' into a "Combat" Organization instead..."

"We wouldn't break any laws at all. Mitsuru, you're a genius." Minato cried.

"Yes, yes, I've been called that before." Mitsuru mused.

"But there's another problem..." Minato said, "We have no supplies, weapons, armor or training for the recruits."

Mitsuru merely smiled, "Are you forgetting who I am? I am Mitsuru Kirijo, CEO of the Kirijo Group. Both influential and wealthy. I have the support of the Iwatodai Council in one hand, and the other, the means of our victory."

"Good. So what's the problem, then?"

"Well... There is a bit of a manpower problem..." Mitsuru frowned, "I've taken a statistic of those within the Land with the 'Potential'... They number far less than we hoped. It's estimated around 1,500-2,000 or so."

"That doesn't seem so bad." Minato said optimistically.

"It is rather bad." Mitsuru said realistically, "The combined forces of the Shadows and Dark Exiles is said to estimate around hundreds of thousands, if not millions." She said grimly.

"... I'm sensing I have a bigger role to play here." Minato said.

"You always do." She winked, "Do you realize the number of Dark Exiles in the Shadow's camp is only 1/3 their total number? That's merely 5,000 Dark Exiles."

"So..." Minato thought deeply, "We need manpower. We have weapons, but not enough warriors?"

"That's where you come in." Mitsuru said, "You see, the SEES is quite popular among the Exile population, with you as their hero of sorts."

"I see." Minato said, "You want me to convince them to join us. But where will we house them? Do we have bases? Anything at all?"

"You let me worry about that. I have a meeting with the Iwatodai Council regarding that. Be back here tomorrow afternoon, with the Exile Leaders. I have a surprise of my own as well."

"Roger that." Minato said and went home.

 _Reforming SEES... He didn't think much of it before, but now he became excited at the prospect of reforming his team. He dozed away that night after eating dinner, thinking about what to do tomorrow._

 **A/N: Hey guys. Its me again. Second chapter done! Any OCs out there? If you're interested, just either mail or write a review (cheap jab, but its my job xD) of your intentions. The best is still yet to come!**

 **As always, please take the time to review my beloved readers! Mwahahahah!**

 **-C**


	3. Iwatodai Defense Force

_A blade, cold and gleaming with light..._

 _Evil as black as Night, face as horrifying as the Shadow._

 _Light and Darkness slashed, and clashed. The Warrior of Light fought with the Father of Shadow._

Minato woke up. The strange dream he had was extremely baffling and disconcerting. He shrugged it off as unimportant and went downstairs after bathing and brushing. In his living, he found Minako watching Anime with Junpei.

Minako was glued to the television and she was utterly engrossed with the characters.

"Haruki, just tell him how you feel, dammit!" Minako hissed.

"What's going on here?" Minato asked.

"Oh, hey bro." Junpei said, "Minako came by a while ago, but you were still asleep. So I let her in."

"Hey, Minato." Minako greeted, "This 'anime' thing is really awesome'! I can kinda relate..."

Minato looked at her strangely, "You can relate crossdressing and pretending to be a man while dating girls?"

"Yes-" Minako sighed dreamily, before crying out, "I mean NO! The story gets me, okay?"

"If you say so..." Minato said lazily as he poured out a bowl of cereal.

Minako heard the cereal crash against the bowl and shifted her attention at him, "What are you doing?"

"Eh? Pouring out cereal. Now, I know what you're thinking! I was raised outside Japan, so I'm used to eating cereal!" Minato said.

Minako tilted her head, "Who and what is a cereal?"

"Eh... Have a bowl." He said, pouring a generous amount of Froot Loops into her bowl, and adding milk.

She looked at it, studied it and even checked if Minato roofied her. When she was satisfied Minato was not using a "Lander" trick, she ate a spoonful. Her irises dilated, and she had an out of body experience.

"Minato..." She said calmly, "What is the name of this taste?"

"That? That's Froot Loops." Minato said, unsure if she was joking or not, "Wait... You haven't tried Froot Loops yet?"

She shook her head, "In all my travels, I haven't come across it." She said, before inhaling the Froot Loops.

"Nomnomnom!" She munched noisily, "That was deeeeee-licious!"

Minato and Junpei looked at each other with shock.

"Yaaaaawn! Let's go to school. I wanna catch up on my sleep." She suggested.

Nodding, Minato took his jacket from the rack. Since Junpei's class was later in the day, he stayed behind.

"So... Minako..." Minato began, "Were the Exiles ever attacked by Shadows?"

She nodded, "In the Exile Relocation Villages and the Exile Special Administrative Zone, Exiles are often attacked. More than often, actually. What about you Landers?"

"Only those with the "Potential" who venture out at night." Minato said, "And the number of those with the Potential number around 4,500 ever since The Fall happened 3 years ago. The number keeps rising faster than its falling. I don't know if that's good news or bad news."

"The Exiles scattered around Iwatodai number around 15,000. But they keep getting picked off by the Shadows." Minako said, "What did you do during the Fall?"

"Well, we formed an Elite Group called "SEES"..."

"Ohhhh, like the Candy?! I love that!" Minako sighed, despite knowing exactly what SEES was.

"Focus!" Minato said patiently, "We combatted the Shadows, trained and fought Nyx."

"Ohhhh, you guys remind me of the Phoenixes..." Minako said.

"Phoenixes?"

"They're this legendary group. Almost as famous as you guys. They disappeared before the Shadows overran their homeworld." Minako explained.

"Actually, there's this one guy, folks say he was a Phoneix, but no one believes him-"

"Why?" Minato asked.

"I'm told that their group never surrenders." Minako said, "He's here, so he must've surrendered."

"How do you know he surrendered?"

Minako clenched her fists, "... We all did. Those who stayed behind refused to surrender."

"Minako..." Minato said comfortingly.

She smiled, "Anyway, the guy tried to make his own defense group, but only 100 guys joined up. They never really did anything big. People were still afraid of Shadows, not to mention they haven't got anything to fight the Shadows with."

"They can use anything."

"Oh, what, we'll throw shoes at the Shadows?" Minako said sarcastically.

"I'm just saying. I know this one guy who used a trashcan lid as a weapon!" Minato said.

"Won't believe it till I see it, man." Minako said in disbelief.

When the two arrived in school, Minako and Minato weren't paying much attention to their Language Class, but continued their conversation.

"So, were you a fighter in your world?" Minato asked.

Minako beat her chest twice, "The very best! I was trained since childhood in the use of the longspear, specializing in the Crescent Moon Style, Phantom Lancer Style, Audacious Spear Style and..."

"And...?" Minato said.

Minako grinned, "...Doggie style."

Minato's jaw dropped.

"Hahaha! I'm just messing with you, you perv!" Minako said, laughing loudly.

Minato began to wonder what kind of humor the Exiles had.

"Yeah. Anyway, if you're wondering how I got that good, let me tell you, I was a Queen's Knight before the Fall." Minako explained, "My Father was the 'Keeper of the Scroll' for the Queendom."

"Fancy titles." Minato said, "Junpei once worked as a "Hygiene Technician" at Junes. He kept insisting it was an executive position, but it's just a fancy word for Janitor..."

"Well, at any rate, the Shadows will keep spawning until someone does something about it." Minako said, "Someone from the Exile Villages said the Shadows attacked again."

"That's terrible." Minato said.

"Yeah. We do everything we can just to ward them off. They don't really attack any Exiles in the City, so most of us assume that the Landers sent the Shadows..."

"That's ridiculous." Minato said dismissively.

"I know it is." Minako winked, "Though, the Shadows don't attack their own, which is why many Exiles chose to join the Shadows."

"Unbelievable..." Minato gasped.

"Yeah, I know." Minako said sadly.

Minato thought deeply for a while. He had plans in restarting the SEES, but he didn't know where to start. Maybe he could speak to Minako...?

"So, uh, Minako..." Minato mumbled, "Ever interested in fighting Shadows? Do you know anyone interested in fighting them?"

She smirked, "Maybe. That depends. Why?"

He decided to come clean, "Mitsuru Kirijo spoke with me the other day, asking me what I thought about restarting SEES..."

Minako's eyes brightened, "Go on..."

"Well, if you know anyone interested in joining us, we'd be glad to join-"

Minako sighed and looked him in the eye, "You want the best? Here I am."

"What...? You'd join so easily? I thought I needed to convince you-"

"You heard me. If you want me to help you restart SEES, I'll do it. If you want me to train your recruits, I'll do it. If you want me to lead your armies and crush the Shadows, I'll do it. For 20,000¥ a month I'll destroy all your enemies for you. But let's get one thing straight... I'll gladly kill any Dark Exile for free."

"Re-Really?!" Minato cried in disbelief.

Minako nodded, "The Shadows destroyed my homeland and murdered my family. I will never forgive those who support them." Minako held out her hand.

Minato shook her hand, "So, know any Exile Leaders?"

"Of course. Zen Stryker. Former Phoenix. He's likely to join up with us, since he owes Mitsuru a debt. Lee Aida, Commando. Always looking for a good fight. Quan, a Terrorist. Fought against the Shadow Regime in his Land. Hates Shadows as much as I do."

Minato nodded, "Round up all important Exiles. Tell them there's a meeting at 6PM. At the Kirijo Group Building."

"Alright," Minako winked, and grabbed her phone, "See you later then."

Minato then headed for the Kirijo Group building. Chidori greeted him, along with Yukari, Fuuka, Akihiko, Junpei, Koromaru and Mitsuru.

Mitsuru looked at them, "Right. You know what to do."

The rest of the SEES nodded and walked out.

"Don't do anything I won't approve of." Junpei winked. Yukari scuffed him in the head.

Minato entered Mitsuru's office.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice." Mitsuru said, sipping on her tea.

"No problem." Minato said, munching on his scones.

Mitsuru continued sipping tea.

"Have we got any bases yet?"

"I'm a couple steps ahead of you; We have three locations..." Mitsuru said, pulling out a tablet and showing a map of Iwatodai, and its underlying territories.

"Here is the Exile's Special Administrative Zone. To the North, is Iwatodai Delta, where three strategic sectors are located at..."

He felt a shudder at the area of the Shadow Mountains, the desolation where Nyx fell into at her defeat, plunging the area in darkness.

"We have Iwa Hill to the East, West Iwatodai Harbor by the river and Satsuma Keep to the north." Mitsuru explained, "We must choose our base of operations carefully.

Minato thought carefully. West Iwatodai Harbor was an old harbor that was converted into a base in preparation for the coming of the Shadows. Although it provided food, water and basic necessities easily, as well as a supply route from the city, it was vulnerable to attacks from the river, especially from Dark Exiles, and being very susceptible to blockading. Over 5 hectares, it was small compared to the other bases, but can nonetheless hold a decent number of men, and host a fleet of at least 10 ships.

Iwa Hill is set a few hundred meters from the East side of the Delta. This gave great defensive opportunities for its defenders. On its top was a plateau that was the site of a former research lab for the Kirijo Group. Its walls were over fifteen feet tall, and had an 8-hectare wide area. The remaining fields were empty, though could be converted into training grounds, It is strategically important as it guards a gap from the eastern sector of the mountain.

Satsuma Keep was an old Japanese citadel carved from the mountains itself. It was the largest of all three possible bases at 11 hectares. It was easy to defend, but the treacherous area meant that the weak will not survive, as well as being bottlenecked. If the Shadows went around both sides, or reach higher ground, they can easily starve the defenders to death.

Still, despite their funding and support, Minato felt apprehensive.

"I... I can't just ask them to die for us." He said solemnly.

"We're not asking them to die for us." Mitsuru insisted, "We're asking them to fight WITH us. To protect this land we call 'home'. If we succeed, they will be full-fledged citizens of Iwatodai City."

Minato thought for a while, "Okay. Let's do it."

Mitsuru nodded. Chidori entered the room, "They've arrived."

"Thank you, Chidori." Mitsuru said, and looked at Minato, "Shall we?"

Minato was led to a conference room, where quite a lit of people were seated. Some familiar, such as Minato's old friends from last year, some unfamiliar, Exiles and Iwatodai Citizens. Minako winked at him from across the table.

"Saved you a seat, bro." Junpei said, taking his bag from a seat.

"Thanks man." Minato said.

Mitsuru took a seat at the head, and Minato sat next to her.

"Are we all here?" Mitsuru inquired.

"The Inaba group is coming up right now, Kirijo-sama." Chidori said.

As soon as Chidori said those words, the door opened, as 8 teenagers entered the room.

"Excellent timing." Mitsuru said, and stood up.

"Mitsuru-senpai, good to see you." A silver haired young man said to the Directress.

"Good to see you as well, Narukami. Where are the rest of your companions from Inaba?" She inquired.

"The rest are downstairs. There's 20 of us to represent Inaba." He said.

"Please take a seat." Mitsuru said, "This is Yu Narukami, and his Investigation Team. They stopped the Izanami Crisis of 2011. Please, have a seat."

The Investigation Team sat down.

"It is a good sign that everyone came." Mitsuru whispered to Minato.

He nodded. Asking Minako to invite all the Exile Leaders was a right move. There were more than a dozen Exile Elders in the conference.

"Thank you for coming." Mitsuru said, standing up, "I am Mitsuru Kirijo, CEO of the Kirijo Group, and one of the Leaders of SEES."

"You can keep the introductions short, Lady Kirijo, of SEES." An arrogant voice said, "The exploits of SEES are well-known in the Exile Community."

He looked human, but had pastel red hair and yellow draconian eyes. He also had two fangs. He had an air of danger, as well as benevolence.

"Hmph." Mitsuru huffed, "Alexander Dragonchild, I presume? Your Mercenaries from the Shadowlands have caused havoc for both Shadow and Humans alike. I'm surprised and quite honored that you've heard so much about me and my organization."

"Why are we here, exactly?" Alexander demanded.

Mitsuru cleared her throat, signaling Minato to speak.

He rose up, "We've brought you here for your input and aid regarding the Iwa Prefecture's present state." He said, "Ever since the Fall, you've all been trapped in this world. And there's no telling when you'll come back."

"Correct." Mitsuru said, "As we share this world and land together, we'd prefer to keep the Shadow Situation from becoming worse."

"That's a lot to ask..." Alexander sighed.

"Are you suggesting something similar to the failed attempt to form Exile vigilante groups?" Minako asked.

"That is correct," Mitsuru nodded, "Though, I heard that plan didn't go as planned."

A young man with brown hair stood up, "I am Zen Stryker," he introduced himself, "It was my fault that it failed. Had I organized it more thoroughly, we could have stabilized the situation..."

"Get over yourself, Phoenix." Alexander laughed, "Last I heard, your group consisted of only about a hundred Exiles. You consolidated with Lee the Commando and Quan the Terrorist."

"It's far better than robbing and pillaging the countryside with your mercenaries-" Zen fought back.

"Silence!" Mitsuru demanded.

Everyone became quiet.

"Is it your intention to form a group to protect Iwatodai?" Quan demanded.

"Ha! That's not gonna work, Quan." Alexander sneered.

"It's a Self-Defense force." Junpei said.

"Like a Paramilitary group?" Lee interjected.

"Say what?" Junpei said in confusion.

"Oh, sorry." Lee mumbled, "You want us to be mercenaries or something?"

"Good Lord, of course not!" Minato cried.

"Don't get me wrong! I don't mind at all!" Lee insisted, "I just want to know the details; Our chances of dying, monthly pay, will I get to kill politicians..."

"You're talking out your ass dude." Junpei said dismissively.

"Okay, answer me this." Lee said, "We're funded by the Kirijo Group, correct?" Lee began.

"That is correct." Yukari said.

"They presumably shell out thousands, if not millions of yen to fun our training and weapons. We're a defense association. We're an "Execution Squad"... C'mon! Do I have to spell it out?! At best, we'd be a private army or a vigilante group!"

"Man, Lee, you're full of shit man." Quan sighed.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen, please settle down." Yukari pleaded, "Now, by attending this meeting, you have shown your intent to be involved in formation of the Defense Force. Are there any questions?"

"Ha! The only question I have is why the hell did I attend this damn meeting in the first place." Alexander stood up, "Let's go, boys. We have work to do." He said, as his companions followed him.

"If you leave now, there'll be no guarantee for your safety. You can either join us or stay out of our way." Mitsuru said.

Alexander turned halfway, "Then we'll be seeing each other very soon." He said and left.

For a moment, the room was quiet. Kenji suddenly shot his up after a while.

"Yes, Kenji?"

"Is it true that SEES was involved in that strange shadow crisis a few years ago?" Kenji asked.

The crowd suddenly murmured. Many of the SEES were surprised, but Minato realized that only meant that they had the potential.

"W-While there had been conflicting reports on the matter, it is safe to say that SEES has been indeed involved in the Nyx Crisis of 2010." Yukari stammered.

The crowd buzzed excitedly.

"Oh man, I can't wait to kill some Shadows!"

"This will be fun!"

"We get to kill things and steal their stuff!"

"It's not all fun and games!" Minato said so forcefully, everyone sat up straight, "Suffering, depression, sleepless nights, certainty of a violent death. Choose wisely."

Minato stood up, and showed the scars on his wrists from his crucifixion. The crowd became quiet. Minako Arisato, who was leaning against her chair with her arms folded, now looked intently at Minato.

"Everyone, please!" Fuuka cried.

"The government recognized the threat those Shadows posed, and commissioned the SEES to organize a group of people with the "Potential" to destroy the Shadows. Only very special people can destroy Shadows permanently." Yukari explained.

"This is, of course, completely voluntary. Anyone who does not wish to be a part of this Organization is free to leave, as Alexander Dragonchild did earlier." Mitsuru said.

Several began to murmur but none left.

"Besides, none of you really have any choice in this matter: Every one of you here has 'The Potential' which means those Shadows will come after you like cats on catnip. If you don't want to be dead or worse, then you have to join us so we can face this together." Junpei said absentmindedly. The SEES looked at him with surprise.

The room was silent. Suddenly, Lee laughed, "So, that's how it's gonna be? Very well then. Quan?"

"Hmmmm... In my world, I was a called a terrorist for fighting against my government, but now... I'm fighting FOR the government... Zen?"

"I failed to save my homeland and my comrades. If I can avenge them in any way I can, I will." Zen said, and went to Minato and offered his sword, "You have my sword."

"And my guns." Lee said.

"And my bombs!" Quan snickered.

Yu approached Minato, "Well, Messiah. Looks like you're the one to follow. If this is for the best interest of the world, then Inaba will see it done."

"Hey!" Minako yelled and jumped up the table, "We need to name this association! I suggest "Deathspear Killas"."

"GunsN'Blood sounds good." Lee said.

"Redhead Nation!" Quan cried.

"Alpha Wolf Squadron." Zen said.

"Goatee Cub!" Junpei cried.

"Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai." Fuuka said. That silenced the entire conference.

"Iwatodai Defense Force!" Minato said.

The entire room buzzed. They were pleased with the name.

"Very well then." Mitsuru said, "This concludes the first meeting of the Iwatodai Defense Force."

 _With the IDF organized, the future of Iwatodai seems secured. But is it the starting point of a rebellion...?_

 _ **A/N: Story seems rather busy right? Sorry bout that.**_

 _ **As always, OCs are still welcome, and so are reviews.**_

 _ **-C**_


	4. Deployment

_The immediate deployment of the Iwatodai Defense Force proved to be a popular choice. When the word was spread of the creation of a defense force, Landers and Exiles, both with and without the Potential, signed up in droves of hundreds and thousands. During the meeting, it was decided that the three bases were to be occupied by the three factions._

 _First faction consisted of the SEES, their friends in Iwatodai, and selected Exiles, such as Minako, Lee, Quan and Zen were to take up base at the IDF Main HQ of Castle Iwa at Iwa Hill._

 _Second faction consisted of the SEES's Inaba Allies, led by Yu Narukami. They took up residence at West Iwatodai Harbor, renamed Westguard. They were at home with the riverbanks of the Iwatodai Delta._

 _Third faction led by the Exile Elders took up camp at the bulwark of Shadowfort, along with the bulk of Exiles._

 _The Kirijo Group immediately set up acquisition of materials and weapons, approved by the government. Since firearms were restricted to specialists and leaders, and bullet-proof vests were both expensive and impractical against the barbaric horde of the Shadows, the IDF were obliged to use their traditional Japanese weapons, and armor._

 _Commissioning the weaponsmiths and armorers of the Iwa Prefecture, and its surrounding areas (who were more than willing to help eradicate the Shadows) the creation, acquisition and purchase of weapons and armor enough to outfit the majority of the IDF were completed within four weeks. Many more were being made._

 _In an auction with navy, Mitsuru bought 5 ships; a battleship, two destroyers and two frigates for a special government price. They were old models, so they were cheap. Mitsuru retrofitted the rest. They were docked in Westguard. The government donated 10 combat aircraft; six assault/transport helicopters, and two Thunderbolt "Warthogs_ ", _capable of Short Takeoff and Landing, or STOL, perfect for the mountainous region. In addition, each base were given 4 transport helicopters for special missions. As such, Castle Iwa became the HQ of the IDF Special Forces, Shadowfort became the HQ of the Airforce and air cavalry, and Westguard became the HQ of the IDF Marines. Each base divided its personnel into four classes: Warriors, who, as the name suggests, fought Shadows and patrolled the vicinity of Iwatodai, Stewards, who were in charge of cooking, cleaning and serving the Officers, Engineers, who built facilities and maintained the strongholds, the Inquisition, who researched weaponry and Shadows as well as writing for the IDF News and the Rangers, who scout the land, spied on the Shadows and their allies, as well as reporting their positions to HQ._

 _As a matter of education, Mitsuru Kirijo commissioned Exiles and Landers to teach the IDF Members at their respective base. Nearly 300 teachers signed up for all levels of education._

 _As for furnishing and rebuilding their own base, the SEES took efforts in rebuilding the dilapidated walls, and creating its defenses. A great guardhouse was built. Due to Japanese Engineering, ingenuity, and innate ability due to Personas, work was hastily done. Mitsuru had returned at a naval auction, taking 8 Navy Railguns from recently retrofitted ships and mounted them on the battlements, on movable rails._

 _Next, work began on the building itself. It was over six-storeys tall, with three basements, and two and a half hectares wide, enough room to house most of its garrison. A second wall enclosed the HQ building. A wide ramp connected the main door to a gatehouse._

 _It was divided into four wings; Caesar, Octavian, Pompey and Lepidus. Caesar Wing became the home of Leaders and Officers._

 _The rest of the land was developed. A portion was turned into_ a farm, to sustain the local _garrison. A building was created for the armory and forge. Another became the stables and motor pool. And another a great hall. Another plot was used to make hostels, for the garrison who couldn't, or wouldn't stay at the HQ building. The rest of the land became their training ground. All work was done within a month and a half._

 _Training the Defense Force began in earnest._

Minato surveyed the trainees. Most were young, inexperienced and scared. Some looked like lost children, who looked as if they never held a weapon before.

"Swing!" Lee shouted, "Swing, you lazy bastards! You will sweat and bleed in here so you don't sweat and bleed out there!"

Minako arrived with something wrapped in a cloth, "Whew. Finally done fixing my damn room. How's it looking here?"

"Not so good." Minato said glumly.

"I suppose we should be thankful they're facing the same direction..." Minako said, "Quan's teaching some of the recruits how to make bombs out of TV parts. Can't imagine that would end well..."

"Yeah." Minato said, "At least now, the Shadow attacks are beginning to thin."

"Uh huh." Minako nodded, "Our patrols are keeping the peace, but we're thinned out. We only have around 5,200 in here. Westguard has 3,800, and Shadowfort with 8,000... That's enough to send out regular patrols, but our fighting capabilities are laughable. A patrol skiff from Westguard got sunk by marauding Exiles. The battleship drove them off."

"Marauders? From Alexander's men?" Minato questioned.

"Probably." Minako shrugged, "Dragonchild has always been unpredictable."

A recruit swung his practice sword and became off-balanced and fell.

"Eh, you there! Cipher, was it? You do seriously surprise me at times..." Lee said with a smile.

"Thank you, Sir, I really appreciate it. I've been doing my very best-"

"-you surprise me at how SHIT you are." Lee hissed, "Fuck me. This is hopeless! With you nerds defending your old worlds, no wonder they were taken so easily! At this rate, the Shadows will eat you guys up and shit you out by next week!" Lee ranted. He took out an inhaler and puffed, "Damn, I'll get a busted lung from all this shouting. The Wardog 16th Fighter Squad will be the first squad to get eaten if you weaklings keep at it! Remember, I only have to run faster than you pussiee! And I run damn fast for an asthmatic Blonde dude!" He howled.

Minako whispered to Minato, "Who the hell takes an entire week to shit out their meal...?"

Minato approached a recruit, "What's your name?"

"My name is RJ... Sir." He mumbled weakly.

"RJ... Fix your form. Hold your sword firmly. Control your strokes with your wrist."

The young Exile nodded, and followed Minato's advice. He managed to do several slashes and stabs.

"That's better, but you should learn to parry." Lee insisted, "You should learn from the best! Minato, how about a demonstration? To show these useless noobs how its done?"

"I dunno, man..."

Lee shrugged, "They won't be swinging at the air for long. Might even save their lives."

Minato nodded, "Who'll be dueling me?"

"How about me?" Minako asked, and threw out the item she had wrapped in a cloth, "This is Sanguine Rose. Or SR for short." She said.

Minako's enchanted weapon, named "Sanguine Rose", is a vampiric lance that steals the very lifeforce of her foes. Over 11 cubits long, its shaft was made of dark steel, with a bronze butt-spike. Its tip is a wavy, double-edged blade of crimson Damascus steel fastened with a ring of gold alloy. The golden rings were interspersed with twisting silver thorns and had a rose emblem, giving it its name. Several neophytes were either breathless or afraid.

"Is that yours or did you steal it from your palace?" Minato asked.

"My family owned it for generations!" She cried, "What do you have?"

Minato drew Deus Xiphos and Lucifer's Blade. They shined with a bright and pale light. Several recruits, and Lee recoiled from the pale and harsh light.

"This is a duel, not a freaking deathmatch!" Lee cried, "Go grab something from the armory. Jeez, you Warriors of Light always have to have a 'my-weapon-is-better-than-yours' contest... Fuck me." Lee puffed from his inhaler.

Minato nodded. The two Arisatos headed for the Armory. It was decided to be a spearfight, with shields.

Minato looked at the arsenal given to them by the Kirijo Group. The shield was a round hoplon shield. It was three feet in diameter, and over an inch and a quarter thick. Made of ironwood, with a fiberglass and abaca support. The shield grip was at the outer edge of the shield, with a strap to fasten at the center. At the face of the shield was emblazoned "I.D.F.". It was strikingly similar to the Iwatodai Police Riot Shield, although the latter was rectangle, heavier and not as strong.

Their spears were shorter than SR, at 10 cubits. Its edge was long, slightly curved at the end, like a Naginata. To counterbalance, there was a spiked ball at the opposite tip.

As Minato wore the shield, he realized this made him more flexible as a fighter. If he used only Deus Xiphos, he could only be aggressive. But with a shield, he could defend and wait for the right time to strike.

They arrived at the training ground after taking their gear. They took up positions.

"Some ground rules..." Lee began.

"Ground rules..."

"Ground rules?!" Minako hissed, "There's no ground rules when you slug it out on the field-"

Lee raised his hands, "Look, all I want is a fair fight."

"Fair fight? I'll show you a fair fight..." Minako picked up her shield and advanced toward Minato. Minato readied his own spear and grabbed his round shield and walked towards his opponent.

Minako moved from side to side and thrusted her spear at Minato. Minato dodged and smacked it away with his shield. Minako jumped and thrusted her spear at him. Minato blocked it.

Everyone began to gather, some looking at their duel from the walls and the building. They made their wagers.

Minako thrusted with her spearhead and the butt of the spear in rapid succession. Minato kept blocking it and swept his spear, causing Minako to step back. She placed her spear behind her shoulders and tried to stab Minato.

"What the hell are you posing for?!" Minato hissed as she swung her spear at his shield. She came closer and thrusted again, but Minato pinned the spear with his right arm. Minako swung her shield at his spear, causing it to break. Minato rammed her with his shield. Minako fell back and raised her spear and shield.

Minato grunted as he dropped the shaft and deflected Minako's deadly thrusts three times before pinning her spear to the ground and snapping it with his foot. With the same fluid motion, he drew his sword and almost sliced Minako's head off. Minako spun around, unsheathed her kophis and blocked Minato's next strike. Minako then swung her sword at Minato but he mananged to shove her away.

"Hey, no touching! Pervert!" She growled as she charged at Minato.

As her sword swung, Minato raised his shield over his head, parried Minako's attack, slashed and thrusted at her shield. Minako reeled back, panting. A wicked smile of excitement appeared on her lips. She advanced and swung her sword downward, but Minato parried and riposted with a quick thrust. Minako growled and charged. This time, Minato side stepped and elbowed Minako in the face. She dropped her weapons and fell. She flicked her wrists, as two slim blades emerged from her wristguards, but Minato pointed his sword at her throat.

As blood dripped from her lips, she licked it away and spat it out, causing Minato to be slightly intimidated.

"Well played." She smiled, holding her hands up.

"A fine display, Minato." Lee smiled, and puffed from his inhaler, "And that, my dear Minako, is why you have ground rules; so your ass don't get too kicked in a duel."

"Oh, piss off, Lee! Beginner's luck!" Minako said indignantly as she got up.

"Alright, you maggots, just follow their lead-" Lee barked before puffing from his inhaler, "-and maybe, just maybe, you won't be Shadow food."

The next few days of training showed promise; The recruits, under the supervision of Minako, Minato and Lee, showed much improvement.

A week had passed, and Minato chose personally chose Kenji, Junpei, Minako and Rio for his team.

As Minato and Minako trained with the Wardog squad, they began to get better at fighting.

"Alright, Cipher you're up next." Lee said.

Cipher picked up a training sword and shield. He took a deep breath and charged at Minato. Minato, with more experience, blocked and wedged Cipher's sword at the rim of his shield, wrenched it from his arm and knocked him down with a punch.

"Ouch! Sonofabitch, my wrist!" Cipher spat.

"Alright, Geirin, in with you." Lee barked, "Remember, even though these swords are dulled, they can still spill your guts out if you aren't careful!" Lee warned.

Geirin charged immediately and wildly thrashed at Minato's shield. Observing that Geirin's style is more offensive than defensive, he quickly blocks and delivered a countercut at his ribs, knocking him back. As he tried to regain his balance, Minato jumped and bashed him with his shield, causing him to go down before he even knew what had hit him.

"Alright that's enough!" Lee cried, "There's only so much I can stomach in one day. You losers look like a bunch of gorillas trying to hump a doorknob. But, I'll admit, you fools improved."

The recruits smiled and congratulated each other.

Mitsuru arrived with Akihiko and Zen.

"Ah, Directress. Akihiko-san. Shitface." Lee said, addressing Mitsuru, Akihiko and Zen respectively, "Look alive, noobs!"

Lee's recruits stood up straight.

"Good form." Mitsuru said to Minato, "May I speak with you three for a moment? Akihiko and Stryker will take over for the moment."

"We will?" Akihiko said in surprise.

Mitsuru ignored Akihiko and went to the side with the Arisatos and Lee.

"... There's been another attack." She said quietly.

"By the Shadows?" Minako said, somewhat unsurprised,

Mitsuru shook her head, "We found a survivor. Luckily, no one had been killed, but they captured our supplies. We can't operate in a region where we can't travel freely. I suspect Alexander and his band of mercenaries."

"What do you want us to do?" Minato asked.

"We want you to find out where Alexander and his mercenaries are hiding and stop them by any means necessary." Mitsuru said.

"Our troops aren't ready yet." Minato said.

"Which is why we're deploying 200." Mitsuru said.

"Hundreds will die if we proceed."

"And thousands more if we don't." Mitsuru said.

"Maybe we can find a more diplomatic approach?" Minato said.

Mitsuru thought for a while, "It's risky."

"Minako knows Alexander. Maybe she can talk sense into him." Minato suggested.

"Speak for yourself, prick! I'm not talking to that moron!" Minako said.

"You will talk to him." Mitsuru said sternly, "We must keep the peace here, otherwise our purpose will be redundant."

"Thanks a lot, you prick." Minako whispered beneath her breath.

"You'll move out immediately. The 16th Fighter Squad will accompany you, along with Lee and Quan."

"Sure. I always wanted to beat the crap out of Alexander again!" Lee said devilishly.

"Aida, use your reason and persuasion." Mitsuru said sternly, "Bring them to heel, if necessary."

"Here's reason," Lee holds up one fist, "And here's persuasion." He holds up another.

Mitsuru glared at him as he laughed nervously, he coughs and turns around, "Alright, Wardogs, you lazy maggots! Prepare to move out! We have escort duty! Any of you not ready to haul out in five minutes will be cleaning the toilets for a month!" He bellows.

"Oh shit! I heard they're serving Mexican and Indian food for the entire month!" A private cried.

The Wardogs panicked and hurried away to get ready. Within five minutes, they were set to leave. Four helicopters picked them up. As Minato surveyed the desolation beyond the mountain, he felt queasy. It looked horrible.

"Only Exiles and Dead men live here." Lee said bitterly.

As they landed near the Mercenary HQ, they were greeted with a foul stench.

"Ew, what the hell is that ungodly stench...?" Quan said, covering his nose.

"F-Fear..." RJ whimpered.

"For Christ's sake, get a hold of yourself, man!" Lee sighed, "You're embarrassing me!"

Quan led the way. The mountainside was frightening for the neophyte fighters. There were crags and dark clouds everywhere. Random Shadows lurked from the darkness, eyeing them, but not attacking due to their number and the presence of Minato.

"Here we are; Deathseeker Mercenary Guild." Quan said, pointing to a cave entrance, littered with skulls and warning signs.

"Quaint little place, isn't it?" Lee said.

"You sure that's the entrance?" Minako asked as they hid behind a rock.

"Fool, I'm sure. I've been there once..." Quan said.

The Minako raised her eyebrows.

"Maybe twice..." Quan whistled.

Lee crossed his arms.

"Oh, alright, there was this hot Exile chick with ginger hair! Sue me for choosing my mate!" He hissed.

"Then any tips before we walk to our deaths?" Minako asked.

Suddenly, there was a cry. Sounds of someone being stabbed and ripped apart. Cries of pain echoed in the halls, before a body was flung out, with several stab wounds. An arm dangled, connected to the body only by a scrap of flesh.

A giant of a man stepped out and punted on the victim's head, "Don't come back!"

Minato moved to help.

"You don't want to get involved. Trust me." Quan said, "Well, what can I say? They don't like strangers, visitors, thieves, Landers, Exiles... Pretty much anyone who shows any weakness will be killed on the spot, as our friend by the entrance can tell you."

A plopping sound was heard.

"Ack! Alright, which one of you did that?!" Lee hissed, covering his nose, "Tell me or the entire unit will be cleaning the toilets with their hands for a month!"

"It wasn't me!"

"RJ did it!"

"No, I didn't!"

"It's definitely Cipher! That's a familiar smell right there!"

"How dare you, Geirin! I saw you eat curry last night-"

"Deal with that later! Let's head inside." Minato said, "For their own safety, the recruits will stay outside."

"Yeah, I don't think Alexander will take kindly if anyone shat on his cave..." Lee mumbled.

The four officers walked toward the entrance, guarded by a hulking seven-foot, 5 inch tall giant, half as wide.

"Damn, that guy is tall." Minato muttered.

"That's Tank, the Halfgiant. Alexander's Enforcer." Quan said, "Get on his bad side, and you're liable to get eaten alive."

They walked up to Tank.

"Well, if it isn't Minako the Viper, Lee the Deadeye and Quan the fucking Terrorist!" Tank bellowed.

"Why does everyone call me that...? And why don't I have a cool nickname?!" Quan cried.

"You three have a lot of balls coming here unannounced!" Tank hissed.

"We just want a word with Dragonchild." Minako explained.

Tank looked at the three of them before looking at Minato, "You three can go, except Blue-Hair over here!" He marched to Minato and stared him down, "I eat wimps like you for breakfast!"

"Well... I probably won't fit in there anyway..." Minato said.

Tank laughed, "That's because my father only fed me if I slaughtered at least 10 men. I've slaughtered THOUSANDS." He boasted.

The Wardogs whimpered from their hiding place.

"Now, you have until the count of three to either tell me how tough are you, join your friends crapping behind that rock before I pick it up and smash your skull in with it!"

Minato looked at Minako, who nodded.

"One..."

Minato took a deep breath.

"Two..."

He closed his eyes.

"Three!"

Minato reeled his head back and delivered a crushing headbutt, breaking Tank's nose.

"Owwwww! Fuck!" Tank hissed, "Oh, you're fucking dead!" He swung at Minato, but Lee and Quan restrained him.

"Minato!" Quan, Lee and Minako cried.

"Are ya out of you're damn mind?!" Minako hissed.

"What!? I thought you nodded to signal for me to show how tough I am?" He cried.

"So punch him in the face! Kick him in the balls! I didn't mean you had to break the man's freaking nose!" Minako said, "Damn, Tank, real sorry. This guy's an idiot." She apologized.

"Here, let me straighten it out for you like so-" Lee said, using his index finger to snap Tank's nose back in place.

"Ow!" He hissed, "How does it look?"

"Yeah, you look like Andre the Giant now." Quan said.

"Good. Love that guy." Tank laughed.

"I'm sorry." Minato said.

"Hmph, whatever." Tank growled, "Get inside."

The four officers entered. The cavern was surprisingly well-lit, despite being underground. It smelled faintly of lemons and fire. The mercenaries looked tough and frequently fought. They looked at the four officers, and especially Minato. They drew their blades, but a quick growl from Tank sent them running.

"Gotta keep these animals in line." Tank growled.

They entered a wide chamber, with Alexander sleeping on a hammock.

"Alexander..." Tank said softly, "ALEXANDER!"

"Ahhh!" Alexander cried, and fell off from his hammock. He drew a blade and swung it wildly, "What? Are we under attack again?!"

"Visitors." He said.

"Tell them to go away; I'm asleep." He said drowsily.

"We're here!" Minako hissed.

"Ugh... What do you want?" He yawned and splashed water on his face, "Not many people get past the Halfgiant. Out with it. Before I decide to feed your blue-haired friend to Tank." Alexander hissed.

"Heheheh. That's right, Baby." He growled at Minato.

"We wanted to know if you attacked our supply caravans?" Minato demanded.

"Heh. Look around you. Where are we?" Alexander said.

"Beyond the mountains?" Minato said.

"Correct; Even if we wanted to attack you guys, we'd have to traverse the impassible mountains through your heavily defended Shadowfort, or cross the Iwatodai River and face your ships. Not like we can't handle it, but we won't risk men to raid a damn caravan." Alexander hissed, "That answer your question?"

"Be that as it may, we want to secure your loyalty-"

"Hahahaha! Loyalty." Alexander laughed, "My father, the King, was loyal to the Shadows. Look where that got him."

"Wait, so, which one was the Dragon...?" Minato asked, but Quan covered his mouth.

"Interesting question..." Alexander said with a smile, "But if I answer it... You won't leave here alive." He snapped his fingers.

On the balconey above emerged eight men with crossbows, four for each balconey. A force of Mercenaries entered. A bespectacled man with a greatsword entered with a man in hoods, with Kataras on both arms.

"We will NOT bow to the IDF. If you want our loyalty, you have to defeat us. But that's not happening anytime soon... At least, for now." He nods to the two men, "Krusty, Talon... Escort our guests outside. Their welcome has worn off."

The four officers were grabbed and sent sprawling to the entrace of the Deathseekers Mercenary Guild.

 **A/N: Rather long chapter eh? You guys deserve it for being supportive! Once again, please, please please review! I love it when you guys review!**

 **Also, I need more OCs! Especially for the Wardog 16th Fighter Squad! I received a few OCs, as evidenced by three, others are still being sorted. Once again, please support this story by reviewing it! Thanks!**

 **-C**


	5. Taste of Combat

After their expulsion from the Deathseeker Mercenary Guild Hall, they were instructed to continue their training. The raiding continued, and although Mitsuru, accompanied by Akihiko, Zen and her personal bodyguard, visited Alexander and his Mercenaries, though they denied any wrongdoing.

Within a week and a half, the Wardog 16th Fighter Squad became stronger, with Lee's iron-fist training and under the guidance of Minato, Junpei and Minako, who also trained Kenji and Rio. Aside from the Wardog Squad, Minato drilled the other squads of his Battalion, which consisted of four companies, five squads in each company. Since there were other battalions in Castle Iwa, Minato divided his time drilling one squad and letting his subordinates train the others. With this scheme, the recruits learned quicker.

"Alright, Wardogs, form up you little maggots! You'd best stand straight or I will beat the Fifty Shades of Shit out of you!" Lee bellowed.

"Um, Sir, can you please tell Axel to come back, I don't think he understands me." A Wardog, Snow, said.

"Oi, you there, come here!" Lee hissed at Axel.

"Sir!" Axel cried.

Lee cupped his hands, "STAY. IN. FORMATION." He yelled.

"Sir, yes, sir!" Axel cried.

"Hey, Snow, what the hell is the matter between you two?" Lee said in annoyance.

"Sir, there's a language barrier-" Snow began.

"Waddya mean there's a language barrier?! He's speaking in Japanese, you prick!" Lee cried.

"I know, but he's from Kansai..."

"Oh, come on!" Lee said exasperatedly, "Form up or I'll have you sweeping up landmines with a hammer! Now, we've come a long way from you fools holding your weapons like how babies hold their rattles. We're giving out your job assignments now. So listen up, or I'll pound it in your skulls in braille! Clear?"

"Yes, sir!" They echoed.

"Madlock!"

"Sir!" He cried.

"001, Warriors." Lee barked, "RJ!"

"Sir!" He cried.

"003, Engineers. You get to build safehouses and fix chairs for your company." Lee said, "Kindrel!"

"Sir!" She cried.

"001, Warriors. " Lee said, "Nagase!"

"Sir!" She cried.

"005, Rangers. You get to scout ahead, and get shot before anyone else does." Lee said, he puffed from his inhaler.

"Snow, 001, Warriors... KC, 003, Stewards... Pixy, 005, Rangers... Davenport, 005, Rangers... Axel, 001, Warriors... Cipher, 004, Inquisition. You have got to be shitting me, Cipher!" Lee cried incredulously, "Do you think you're fucking Yukio Mishima or something? Do you think you're some kind of a fucking author? I nearly bust my damn lung trying to teach you wimps how to fight, and you repay me by requesting to be the Squad Secretary!? You actually want to play second banana and write for the Inquisition? Those fools are a bunch of rats!"

"Well, I wrote fanfiction at one point..." Cipher said, "And besides, Sir, the pen is mightier than the sword-"

Lee chuckled, "Well, hitting someone with a pen won't hurt as much as hitting them with a warhammer..." He said, puffing from his inhaler, "Anyway, your first mission... Well, your Battalion Commander will talk about it."

Minato stepped forward, "As you all know, our friends from the Deathseeker Mercenary Guild refused to stop raiding our caravans. We've been commanded by the Directress herself to put an end to them. 1st Battalion will mobilize at dawn, with 2nd Battalion marching behind us, led by Akihiko. That is all."

Lee stepped forward, "Alright, ladies, get ready to march tomorrow! There'll be at least 20 other squads marching alongside us, so don't you dare make me look bad out there!" Lee swore.

"Yes, sir!" The Wardog Squad cried.

The next morning, at 3:30 am, Minato wore his armor, and slung a shield behind his back. He brought 4 weapons with him, which were a rapier, a swordbreaker, a katana and a hidden blade and a mini-crossbow in his wristguard. He decided to leave Deus Xiphos and Lucifer's Blade.

He knocked on Minako's door and went in. She was strapping her leather boots. She looked ready to make war; in her boot-holsters were four throwing axes, at her side were two sharply honed axes, one black and the other silver. Her vambraces were the same ones she used in their duel. Her hair was kept in place by two sharp stilettos. Sanguine Rose was slung at her back. She wore leather laminated armor, and wore a steel pauldron at her right shoulder.

"You look ready for war." Minato said.

"Don't I?" She winked, and took a swig of wine.

"Are you sure you should be drinking before a battle?" Minato asked.

"Why can't I?" She said, "I always drink before fighting."

"No shield?"

"Nope." Minako winked, "I'll just pick one up later."

"Hahaha, I suppose. Don't you have too many weapons?"

"Hey, we're facing Alexander and his band of misfit mercenaries. Can't hurt to have extra weapons to split their skulls with." She said simply, "Shall we?"

Minato nodded. They exited the building. Officers were provided with horses. Minato rode on a grey destrier. His 1st Battalion was already ready, ranked and in formation. They were all armed with shields, swords, spears and bows and arrows (javelins, for those not good wi the bow). They were armored with traditional Samurai chestplates, shoulderguards, leg armor and their helmet, signifying their squad and company number. The standard bearers carried their squad banners.

Joining them were Yukari's Rangers and Hayase's Rangers, who scouted ahead. Junpei would command the 17th Blades Squad, Kenji with the 20th Wizard Squad, Rio with the 12th Hellcats, Quan with the 11th Redboars and Minako with the 8th Bloodravens.

"Look at the man in your left." Minato said.

They looked.

"Now, look to your right." He said.

They looked.

"Some of you will see Landers. Some will see Exiles. But all I see are brothers, and sisters in arms. There's only 200 of us going. 200 against the countless Shadows, and marauding Mercenaries. But that's all we need! Trust in your strength and the strength of the person next to you, and you'll survive! Remember, always stay in formation, remember your training, and DON'T DIE." Minato said, and nodded to Lee.

"Move out!" Lee snarled.

Minako moved to Minato, "Fine speech, Commander Minato. Nice and short."

Minato nodded.

The 1st Battalion crossed the eastern side of the Shadow Mountains, east of Shadowguard. The Air Cavalry will rendezvous with Mitsuru's 2nd Battalion, and Akihiko's Mounted Corps, as soon as Minato secures a foothold near the Deathseeker Guild. They had hoped that their combined army will force Alexander to surrender.

It was 9 AM. The sky was still dark in the Shadowlands, as it always had been for three years. The IDF Warriors were tired.

"Sir, can we rest for a while?" RJ panted.

"No, we can't." Lee said bluntly.

"Sir, we're exhausted!" Madlock complained as he guzzled his canteen bottle, "Its been hours since we had a break."

"Ask the fucking Commander for a break, Madlock!" Lee hissed, "I'm following orders here! I'm struggling for breath in this damn place. You don't see me whining about it! If you don't like marching, then you should've signed up with the Stewards in the Baggage Train!"

"Sir... Please." Nagase pleaded. The rest of the squad began to complain, and that complaint soon travelled to other squads, who then complained as well.

"You will all march until your feet bleed! Then you'll march some more!" Lee bellowed. The squads cowered in fear.

Minato rode to their position, "What's wrong?"

"These whiners and babies all want to rest." Lee spat with scorn.

Minato nodded, and faced the column, "Men! I know you're all tired; But we can't just halt the column here, in the middle of nowhere, waiting to be ambushed. Up ahead is the River, with plenty of shade. We'll rest for an hour there, and take lunch."

The column sighed with relief. As promised, they arrived in the river, with its sparkling water. It was so clear, that the bottom could be seen. The 200 men drank from it and refilled their canteens. They began eating lunch.

Minato and the rest of the officers slumped down under a large tree.

"Whew, I'll need a massage after this." Minako sighed, rubbing her legs, "I should've worn slip-on boots..."

Junpei took off his shoes, revealing a large blister.

"Fuck me, Junpei, what the fuck man?!" Lee hissed in disgust, "I just lost my appetite then and there!"

"That's just nasty!" Yukari cried.

"Heey, I gotta let these suckers breath. I've been on the march!" Junpei cried.

"How could you even get a blister?! You've been riding on a horse the whole time!" Minako cried.

"I have a skin prob-" Junpei began, but was interrupted by cries from the Battalion.

"Holy shit!" They hissed as arrows rained on top of them. Several were hit.

"Roxanne!" An IDF Warrior cried.

"Shit, man, this chick ain't even breathing! She's dead!" A fellow Steward cried. Then, a horde of Shadows and Dark Exiles emerged from the Mountain passes to assail the 1st Battalion.

"Fuck me!" Lee cursed and grabbed his weapon.

"Get to your squads! retain your positions!" Minato yelled.

The rest of the officers nodded and left for their squads.

Minato got on his horse and rode around the column, "Testudo!" He shouted a command, as the IDF Warriors locked shields. Several Dark Exiles appeared and rained arrows at them from the cliffs above them.

Minako hid behind a rock, and grabbed a throwing axe by her shoe-holster. She threw one at one of the archers, and he fell with a cry. She ran to his corpse and retrieved the axe.

Yukari's Archers were having a hard time picking off their targets.

"Bloodravens! Form up by Yukari's Rangers!" She hissed. Her Bloodravens nodded and locked shields. Yukari and her Rangers took cover behind Minako's Bloodravens and picked off the attacking Archers.

Lee strode toward his unit, unfazed by the chaos. Taking aim with his M4, he took down a wave of Shadows. He found his Wardogs fending off the Horde. RJ was crying behind a rock, Madlock stood stunned and Cipher was on the ground, taking pictures with his camera (for the Inquisition).

"RJ, stand up and fight, you wimp! Madlock, you better move! if the Shadows won't kill you, I will! Cipher! Pick up a damn sword and fight!" He yelled, "You fools are embarrassing me!"

"Yes, Sir!" They cried and grabbed a weapon.

"Remember your training! Anyone here who dies with a clean blade, I'll feed their bodies to the Shadows!" He swore.

"Sir, yes, sir!"

The Wardogs fought on.

Junpei panted as he ran toward his men. He had a hard time, since he forgot to put on his shoe in the chaos.

"Blades!" He yelled. His Blades were taking cover behind a rock, with Kenji's Wizards.

"Sergeant!" The Blades cried.

"Draw swords and cut these Shadows down!" Junpei cried, "Lets go, Kenji!"

"Sir..."

"Junpei..." Kenji said, trying not to laugh.

"Sir, why are you wearing only one shoe!?" A Blades Squad member asked.

"Yeah, why ARE you wearing one shoe?" Kenji said.

"Uh, duh, so I can move faster!" Junpei said as if it were plainly obvious, "Studies show that a man wearing only one shoe is scientifically proven to be faster and stronger than those with two."

"Are you serious...?" Kenji said in disbelief.

"Don't believe me! Lemme make a demonstration!" He said before charging headlong into the fray.

"Take this! And that!" Junpei cried, swinging his Katana, cutting down the Shadows and the Dark Exiles like straw men. The Blades nodded, and followed his example, took off a shoe and charged alongside their leader.

Kenji shrugged, "Let's go, Wizards!" He cried and charged as well.

Minato surveyed the battlefield. The Officers were all doing their jobs. Suddenly, he saw Minako struck down by several arrows. He wheeled his horse in order to helped her.

Then, a giant Chariot type Shadow, a Gigas, appeared. It was the largest one so far, being over eight and a half feet tall and wielded a warhammer and a broad shield. As he swung his warhammer, several IDF Warriors where thrown away. The Shadows roared as their champion gloated over the carnage he created. The fallen members were dragged away and healed.

Minato acted decisively and grabbed a lance and charged. The Gigas swung his shield and bashed Minato, causing him to fly three feet away. The Gigas threw his shield away and swung his warhammer downward. Minato unsheathed his Katana, and parried but was overpowered and punched away. Minato slashed several times, but his blows glanced away from the warhammer. The Gigas swung horizontally, causing Minato to duck and fall back. The Gigas swung again, and missed, but as Minato raised his sword, the Gigas pinioned him with a crushing bear-hug.

"Minato! I'm coming!" A semi-barefoot Junpei cried and tried to intervene, but the Shadow just kicked him away.

"Argh!" Minato grunted in pain, releases his Katana, and with his freed hand he unsheathed a hidden blade from his vambraces and stabbed the Gigas in the side. He was thrown down and he quickly grabbed a sword that fell beside him. He thrusted, but the Gigas dodged and punched Minato in the head with the butt of his warhammer.

Minato fell, and despite being dazed, he grabbed the Gigas' fallen shield just in time to block the hammer of the Gigas, which punched through the shield with ease. Minato then grabbed a spear and skewered the Gigas. The Gigas spurted dark matter and headbutted Minato. He snapped the shaft of the spear and hit Minato in the head with it. Minato staggered back and grabbed another lance. With brute force, he impaled the Gigas, but the Shadow pulled the shaft inward, bringing Minato's face dangerously close to its maw.

With great strength, Minato raised him up and anchored the butt of the lance to the ground, setting the Gigas upright. The Gigas struggled and tried to choke Minato, but he gave out a cry and died. The entire IDF Battalion roared with applause.

Minako staggered away from the battlefield. Her left leg had been pierced by three arrows in her thigh; her right side bled profusely after it was slashed by a sword. She was using Sanguine Rose to support herself.

Four Dark Exiles ran after her and surrounded her.

She drew her Silver Axe, with her right hand and wielded Sanguine Rose with her left, "Really? Come on guys, just piss off already. We don't have to do this!" She growled fiercely.

The Dark Exiles looked at each other in confusion, "Maybe you didn't notice... You are wounded, crippled, and there are four of us-"

Without warning, Minako charged toward them, and swept her lance, scattering them. She threw her Silver Axe at the first one, hitting him in the chest before hacking his head off with a swift strike from her Ebony Axe. The second was struck with Sanguine Rose, healing Minako's flank injury. The third charged, but Minako took her stilettos and threw it at him, severely injuring him before finishing him off with an axe. She duelled with the last one, eventually slicing his leg off before finishing it off with a neck slash.

She shook her head and snapped the arrows on her leg and growled, "Should've brought more then."

The IDF counterattack broke the Shadows and the Dark Exile's will to fight, causing them to beat a hasty retreat. Minato took a report; over 8 dead, and 88 injured. The Shadows numbered almost 1,000 with an additional 50 Dark Exiles. They lost more than half of their Shadows, and 27 Dark Exiles. 10 were captured and the rest scattered.

"Sir!" Nagase, Lee's squad member, cried, "We caught someone!" She said.

Minato rushed to Lee. RJ and Geirin restrained a soldier wearing a leather jacket, with a sigil of wings. He had a strange device at his waist. It resembled a box, with gas canisters and blades.

Quan touched it. "Definitely not explosives. They're Grappling hooks."

"Grappling hooks? Now we know who raided our caravans. Could be from Alexander." Lee said.

"I'm just a scout! I'm not with the Dark Exiles!" He cried.

"A photo for the Inquisition, please." Cipher said, taking out a camera. Lee smiled and did a thumbs-up pose. Quan did a peace sign. Geirin tried to put two fingers up for RJ, as horns, but RJ smacked him away.

"Lets hang this bozo!" Lee cried.

"Mitsuru will take care of it. Send him to the back!" Minato said.

"Yes sir." Lee said.

Minato went to address his men, "Today was a good battle." Minato said, to his Battalion, who were grinning with the turnout of the battle, "Everyone did well! Our dead were avenged! They lost more than they gained! And they gained nothing! Let them know we are not afraid! Our officers kept the peace, and prevented chaos from taking over. Let's be on guard next time. Tend to our dead and wounded. Take our prisoners and tie them up to the baggage train and-"

"Did I miss any action?" Minako grunted, staggering back to the group. She was leaning on Sanguine Rose, was bloodied, her right side was torn open, but was recently healed. Her right eye was swollen shut and she had snapped arrows on her left leg, but she was beaming with a smile.

"Jesus Christ, Minako, you look like hammered shit." Lee cried in surprise.

"Aw, piss off man, I look gorgeous." She said angrily.

"Anyway, you all did good out there! Though this was a tough fight, all of us did well!" Minato said.

"Hey, what about me?! Don't I get a special mention? I was in that scrap!" Minako protested.

"Hahaha, yeah, I saw you run." Junpei chortled.

"What the hell did you say!? I took on four of them back there!"

"Yeah, right, and I'm the Pope of Antarctica."

"Grrrrrr!" Minako purpled with rage.

"Enough of that!" Minato said, "Remember our original goal here is to establish a foothold to confront Alexander and his men. Which is what we'll do. So, pack up everyone. Loot their dead; and let's march."

After that, the 1st Battalion reformed their formation and marched toward the Deathseekers, into the Dragon's Den.

 **A/N: good chapter? I had fun making it. Junpei's barefoot experiment was a happy accident (I ran outside my house with only one shoe on and slipped on some ice(don't ask))**

 **Anyway, lots of new characters. Keep the OCs coming, my readers! I hoped you enjoyed the latest!**

 **-C**

 **Reader Response:**

 **Ace: Hey man. Nah, I don't think a lost of OCs will interest anyone. If any ARE interested in a character sheet, I'm still in the process of writing it. Just ask, and you shall recieve!**

 **Masterofstrings: Rogue Exiles, yes. The Dark Exiles. But not the case. You'll see! The captured one was just a teaser.**


	6. Dragon's Den

Minato's 1st Battalion pitched camp on a plateau overlooking the Headquarters of the Deathseekers. The Wardog Squad were camped next to the Blades and played cards with them. The radio blared songs from the 50's. It was Radio Iwa, featuring DJ Teddie.

Junpei and Lee were busy talking about girls and guns.

"GOOOOOOOD MORNING IWATODAI!" A boisterous Teddie announced, "Hello, this is Radio IDF, with your host, Chief Petty Officer Teddie Kuma! Hey, is it too early? Heeey, it's too late. Bringing you news at 0600 hours. What does the O stand for? Oh My God, its early! From the Delta all the way to the Bay Area! From Westguard all the way to Castle Iwa and Shadowfort! And now, here's the news."

Teddie imitated the sound of a typewriter.

"News from Westguard: The launching of the IDF River-Sea Fleet was completed yesterday, with Westguard Captain, Yu Narukami, launching the flagship, Dawn's Vengence, followed by the two frigates, Hammer of Pompey and Valkyrie, and two destroyers, the Kestrel and Death's Daughter. They are accompanied by 30 patrol skiffs, that can support a squad of 5. In other news, A food poisoning outbreak has taken hold of Westguard, causing some 15 Marines to sleep in the Latrines due to diarrhea. Chief culprit is Warrant Officer Chie Satonaka, and Medical Corps Director, Yukiko Amagi, both had consented in becoming the Head Chefs of Westguard. We have an insider, who was quoted in saying, "Chie and Yukiko did it!" Further investigation is underway." Teddie said.

A beep was heard.

"Hold on: We've received special reports of an ambush on the 1st Battalion, led by Commander Minato, yesterday at noon. The combined forces of Shadows and Dark Exiles were said to number 1,000 strong, with 50 Dark Exiles. The Battalion, numbered only 200, managed to hold off the attackers and even decimate it, with the leadership of Commander Minato, capturing about 10 Dark Exiles, and another Exile Spy of unknown origins. Well, that's it for the news. Stay sharp, IDF, because Nyx and her Shadows definitely will be. Teddie signing off! Here's some EZ songs to motivate you guys."

Teddie played a Polka track.

"Hey, Lieutenant... how much longer are we suppose to be here, anyway?" RJ asked Lee.

"At least until your endless whining gives away our position." Lee snarked, "I don't know why we just don't charge in and smack Alexander and his sissy Mercs..."

Minato walked toward them.

"Commander!" The Wardogs and Blades stood in attention. Junpei and Lee snapped a salute.

Minato looked at them weirdly, "Really, guys...?"

"Yeah, we know. But we wanna look professional." Junpei winked.

Minato nodded, "We're going to move out in a few hours. Lee, set up positions by the cliffs, Junpei, prepare to move out. If negotiations fail, prepare to fight."

"Yeah. Either glory, or a glorious death awaits." Junpei said heroically.

"Can we choose which one?" Madlock whispered. His fellow recruits snickered.

"Is something funny, Madlock? Well, perhaps you'd like to share it with the rest of us?!" Lee snarled.

"N-No, sir! My apologies!" He mumbled nervously.

"Hmmm. Alright." Lee said, "You guys heard the Commander! Get moving! Nagase, Snow, I want all weapons sharpened and at the ready. Cipher, RJ, load up the food and supplies and start moving, Madlock, Kindrel and the rest, I want sandbags by the cliffs for cover... And will someone turn off that damn radio?! That ain't fighting music!"

The IDF mobilized and set up camp at the base of the hill. The mountains by the sides provided cover for, and provided a clearing in the center, and also acted as a buffer zone.

Minato exited his tent, and found the camp buzzing with activity. His orders to prepare for battle were followed closely.

Minako was giving orders to her squad.

"Form up, men!" Minato cried, "Minako, are our men ready?"

"Who can be ready to march into hell?" Minako snarked.

"We gotta move out, or Alexander might flank us." Minato explained.

Lee arrived and saluted, "Hey, Sir, the men are formed up. There's also a horseman sighted on the clearing."

"Alright. Let's move out!" Minato said.

"Yes sir!" Lee said.

When Minato arrived at the front, the Wardog Squad, and many of the Officers were watching the Horseman closely. He held a banner at his hand. He kept flashing and blinking several lights.

"Talk. Now. Clearing." Cipher said, noting the lights.

"What is that..?" RJ whispered.

"It's the white flag of truce; They want to talk." Minato said.

"Talk?! The symbol of the Deathseekers is a flayed man, with a burning skull! I say its a trap." Lee said.

"They could just want to talk; After all, our reason for being here is to reason with them." Yukari said, "We should send a group of delegates to represent us."

"No way, man!" Lee said adamantly, "You need to bring at least two squads with you guys; in case we need to apply force on these mo-fuckers." Lee said.

"That might set them off even further." Quan explained, "I suggest we station the as many spearmen at the top as we can; While the bowmen and javalinthrowers stay near. The most scary looking ones can stay in formation behind us. That'll intimidate them."

"Let's do it all. Lee, are your Wardogs ready to accompany us?" Minato asked.

Lee scratched his head, "I dunno, sir... The mere sight of my "Gentle" Squad might only encourage the Deathseekers to kill us all." He pointed to his squad.

"Oh, a dandelion! Make a wish!" RJ said, and held out a dandelion.

"Okay!" Madlock said, and blew the dandelion. The tufts flew into RJ's eyes.

"My eye!" He cried.

Lee shook his head.

"Nonsense. We'll need them all." Minato said.

Lee shrugged, "Your funeral. Sir!" He said, and turned to the Wardogs, "Look alive, Men! You're up for bodyguard detail for the Commander himself! Don't any of you dare mess this up or I'll throw you to the dogs! Get moving!" Lee howled. The Wardogs scurried for their gear.

Nodding, Minato gave the order. The Archers, Peltasts and Spearmen took up positions.

Minato, Lee, Quan, Junpei, and Minako entered the clearing, with the Wardogs trailing behind them in uniform.

Awaiting them were Alexander, Tank, Talon, Krusty and 4 more of Alexander's retainers.

"Hail, Minato Arisato, Son of Makoto, Messiah of Iwa, Commander of Castle Iwa and Protector of the Realm." Alexander said.

"Hail, Alexander Dragonchild, Son of Lysander, Dragonborn, and Lord Reaver of the Shadowlands and the Desolation of Nyx." Minato said.

Lee shuffled, "I thought it was Son of Salamander...?"

"Shhh!"

"Well, Minato, with all that formality out of the way, what is it you want?" Alexander said with a sneer. "I've noticed your men by the cliffs. Your march has not been unnoticed. Were you sent here to see us bend the knee to the IDF?"

"No." Minato said.

"Ohhhh, I see now..." He grinned, "You were sent to kill me."

"That's not it either." Minato said.

Alexander frowned, "I suppose this wasn't a courtesy call?"

Minato shook his head, "I've come to recruit you into our army."

Alexander looked at him for five seconds before laughing, "Hahaha! You're kidding, am I right? Why in a Shadow's tit would we fight for you Milk-Drinking Landers and your Exile Kneelers? We're Exiled Mercenaries, Artists who paint with blood and gore, deep inside Shadow Territory!"

"If you refuse to join," Junpei sighed, "We've been given orders to put you guys down."

"You can try." Alexander sneered, "Trust us, many tried to have us killed. None have succeeded. Especially not Lee, or his asthmatic ass."

"I ain't asthmatic!" Lee denied, silently puffing from his inhaler.

"Then I'm not half a Dragon!" Alexander said sarcastically, "My father will rejoice to hear it!"

"We can, actually. We got this whole place surrounded. You have nowhere to go." Minako said defiantly.

Alexander smirked and looked at a Geirin mockingly, "You there... Boy. What do you do?"

"I-I was a Baker's Apprentice... Sir." He said feebly.

"Huh. Yeah, I'm sure you'll be pelting us to death with loaves of bread..." Alexander said, and pointed at RJ, "You! What do you do?"

"I was a carpenter." He said shyly.

"What, did the candlestick makers not arrive?" Alexander scoffed, then pointed to another IDF member, Cipher, "And you there! What do you do?"

"Student." He replied.

"Heh. Quite a standing army, Minato." Alexander said sarcastically, "Deathseekers! What do we do?!"

"Fight!"

What do we do?!"

"Kill!"

"What do we do?!"

"Never surrender!"

Alexander looked at Minato smugly, "See, Messiah? I have more warriors than you do. So make a choice."

Minato thought for a while. They outnumbered the Mercenary Exiles, but his recruits were new combat. Minato made warriors out of them, but the Deathseeker Mercenaries were veterans.

"We will fight." Minato said defiantly, "I am confident of my men."

"We shall see." Alexander said, and pulled out a remote. He clicked the trigger, as an explosion ripped through the two mountains behind them, causing a landslide. The IDF Forces managed to move away, but the path was blocked, causing Minato, his officers and the Wardog Squad to be trapped with Alexander and his Officers.

"Are you stupid or something? Is there a fucking gas leak in that damn cave of yours?" Lee laughed, "We still outnumber you, dipshit!"

"True, but Tank, and I account for 5 men. Talon and Krusty can take out 10. But just in case.,," Alexander nodded to Tank, who took out an ornate silver horn and blew a long, deep note. The sound reverberated all across the Desolation and several Mercenaries appeared to fight.

"Draw your swords!" Lee said quietly.

Minato turned around, "What do we do?"

Quan opened his jacket, revealing several Semtex charges, "Never leave home without it. I'll blow open a path for the reinforcements, you guys distract them."

Minato nodded and faced Alexander.

"I warn you, Minato." Alexander hissed, "The Son of the Dragon has never lost a fight before."

"You obviously haven't met me." Minato said.

"Think you're a dragonslayer? Come here and try. Kill them all!" Alexander barked and duelled with Minato.

Junpei charged at the Mercenaries. He took knocked out three and wounded another with his Katana, "This is insanity!"

"I know!" Minako hissed, knocking out a Mercenary with her lance, "As if Shadows weren't enough!"

Suddenly, there was an enormous Shadow blocking their light. They turned around to see Tank, wielding a Kanabo.

"Charge!" Madlock cried as his 5 squadmates followed. Tank swung his Japanese Club and sent the men flying.

"Oh shit. Look at the size of that Oni! That guy's as big as a house!" Junpei cried, "What do we do?!"

Minako charged in and kicked Tank in the groin.

"Hehe." Tank laughed.

Minako's eyes widened with shock. Junpei ran forward and kicked Tank in the groin.

"Haha." Tank laughed.

"That would have DEFINITELY worked for me!" Junpei cried.

"You're on your own, bro!" Minako saluted and ran off.

"Hey, come back here, coward- ack!" Junpei yelped as he was swept away by Tank.

Minato wielded his rapier on his right, and a main gauche on his left, he kept Alexander at bay. Alexander, armed with two Greek Scimitars, or 'Kopis', sneered at him derisively.

"Are you going to kill me with that toothpick?" He scoffed, swinging both his blades at Minato.

"A rapier is a gentleman's weapon." Minato said, smirking.

"It'll be a deadman's weapon-" Alexander thrusted, but Minato sidestepped, and with his swordbreaker, caught his Scimitar with its teeth, and twisted the blade, causing the scimitar to snap.

Growling, Alexander discarded his broken sword and clicked his cestus' together. A spark caused it to become aflame. He growled and swung his massive fists at Minato, who could barely avoid his lightning-fast punches.

Minako ran and tried to aid Minato, but something swept her away. When she stood up, she was swept away again.

She waited and swung her lance, causing a young man to fly.

"Talon!" She hissed, "You little shrimp!"

"Look at you!" Talon hissed, as he stood up, "With your little axe, and your pretty red hair!"

Minako smirked, "Thanks for noticing my hair."

Talon spat on the ground, "I hope you're ready to die!" He cried and raised his katars.

Minako's excitement peaked as she faced death.

Quan knelt by the rocks that blocked the path. He carefully laid out his tools, as Lee and the Wardogs formed a shieldwall to defend them.

"Quan! What the fuck is taking you so long?! Hurry the hell up!" Lee hissed.

"Hey, this is harder than it looks, you clown!" Quan cried, "I have to get the wires right or else we'll go kaboom!"

"T-Take your time, Sergeant!" Nagase said.

Junpei swung his Katana, fending Tank off. Tank caught his katana with his bare hands and wrested it from his hands. Though his hands were cut deep by the blade, he showed no pain.

"Hehehe, use this, baby." Tank growled, throwing his club at Junpei, "To keep things interesting."

Junpei picked it up. He felt his innate baseballer stir. The Halfgiant roared and charged at him, but Junpei sidestepped, causing the Halfgiant to fall off balance. Junpei swung the club into Tank's stomach, and into his back. Junpei winded up, "Homerun!" He cried and swung the club at Tank's backside, knocking him out.

Alexander relentlessly pursued Minato, mowing down all those in his path. Minato, wearing only light armor, was able to agilely dodge Alexander's strikes, covered in fire and able to crack rocks.

Soon, Alexander panted, near exhaustion.

"Had enough?" Alexander panted.

"Looks like you have," Minato said.

"I'm just getting started!" He howled furiously, pulled out a flamberge from a scabbard at his back and, to Minato's surprise, burst into flame and came barreling down at Minato with increased speed.

Minato knew he couldn't outrun him, so he charged, which proved to be foolish. Stepping 3 feet toward Alexander scorched his skin and singed his hair, but he knew he had to subdue the Mercenary immediately. He had to.

Minako faced off with Talon. Though, it was obvious Minako had the advantage of reach, Talon was unpredictably fast. H got past Minako's guard and snuck a blow to her leg. She grunted in pain, but kept her footing.

"What's wrong, 'Viper'? I thought you were fast?" Talon taunted.

"Piss off, you bellend!" She hissed, and swung her lance, "Don't make me kill you!"

"You won't!" He hissed, and jumped. Minako reacted quickly, and impaled his shoulder with her spear.

"Huh. That was easier than I thought." She said.

Minato parried and countered Alexander's attacks. His sword was much bigger, being a greatsword, as well as being on fire, so Minato had a hard time.

As he thought of ways to defeat Alexander, his sword began to bubble and melt. Cursing, he turned to a last resort; He unsheathed Deus Xiphos and Lucifer's Blade, dual-wielding the Sword of Heaven and the Blade of Hell.

The harsh and pale light hurt Alexander's eyes, as he squinted and was on the defensive. He managed to slash at Minato's leg, causing him to fall down.

"Only one thing we do to insects... We crush them." He said, and raised his sword to end Minato.

"Red to blue... Blue to white... And green to yellow!" Quan smiled wickedly.

"You're scaring the men!" Lee cried.

"Take cover!" Quan said with an evil grin.

"Go!" Lee hissed, as he and his men took shelter behind a rock. Quan galloped with them.

"Three words. Happy. Birthday." He said,

"That's two-" Lee cried, but Quan detonated the bomb, causing the rockslide to implode, spraying the area with small rocks.

Alexander was pushed away from the force, as well as everyone present.

"Who set us up the bomb?!" Tank cried.

"My eyes...! I can't fucking see!" Alexander hissed.

"Get the Boss out of here!" Talon cried.

The IDF Forces rushed in. They carried Alexander away, but a Helicopter arrived, as Mitsuru, Akihiko and Zen rappelled down in style.

"Stop!" Zen said, pointing a gun at Krusty. Krusty raised his hands, before drawing a blade, and slashing Zen across the cheek. In anger, he shot at him, but he dodged and was about to hit Zen. Zen bent down, and swept him off his feet with a kick. He followed up with an uppercut at Talon, knocking him down as well.

"Damn, Zen looked like he went Kazuya Mishima and pulled the ground out from underneath those fools!" Junpei said.

"You've lost, Alexander." Mitsuru said, "It's over."

"I... I can't see." Alexander said, his eyes bloodied and mutilated, "I can't see shit."

Minato approached him. Talon and Krusty blocked the way.

"It's alright." Minato said. He approached Tank, and placed his hands at Alexander's eyes, and whispered, "Salvation."

A light enveloped Alexander, as he opened his now-healed eyes.

He looked at Minato with respect, "You have honor, Messiah. And our respect."

"Are we in agreement?" Minato said, smiling.

Alexander looked around. The IDF and his Mercenaries, though enemies, helped each other out. A Merc was healed by IDF medics, while two Mercs carried an IDF Warrior wounded by the blast.

Alexander smiled, and put his hand on Minato's shoulder, "We are one."

 **A/N:**

 **Good conclusion? I thought a diplomatic scene would be too anticlimactic. Oh, and sorry it took so long to update. Been busy with school and shit. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed! And if you favorited it, don't forget to review it! Read on, my dear readers! And send the OCs coming!**


	7. Sibyllus Part 1: The March

With the Deathseekers brought to heel, the IDF slowly began to build up its numbers. The Deathseekers, now the Shadowfort Guardians, were assigned to guard the IDF Bulwark, and protect Exile Caravans, refugees and pilgrims flooding the neck of IDF lands.

Alexander walked along the jagged stones that formed the wall of the Shadowfort. Along with him were Tank, Talon and Krusty.

"Not exactly the cave, but it will do." Alexander said.

"Yes, but the rocks are rather sharp..." Krusty said, touching the rocks before recoiling his hand, "It will do the job of keeping wayward Betrayers and Shadows from our walls."

"Hmph. Well, at least we can defend ourselves better here. It was only a matter of time before those Shadows overran the Den..." Alexander said

"I do agree this place is formidable in defense." Krusty said, observing the towering black granite walls.

"That's right. I mean, look at this place! It looks like shit Saruman would have!" Alexander cried.

"You do love your Lander movies..." Talon sighed.

"You there! Exile!" A stern voice cried out.

"Huh?" Alexander turned around. A portly man with a cruel face, a glorious beard and a handlebar mustache greeted them. Accompanying him were two squads of Landers, who looked just as evil as he did. All of them had a sour faces, as if the mere presence of Alexander and his companions disgusted them.

"I bring word from the Directress herself... For your eyes only." He said, holding out a sealed message.

"Yeaaaah... That's gonna be a bit of a problem." Alexander said, looking at the paper, "What is this...?"

"Is there a problem?" The man said smugly.

"I can't read." Alexander said quietly, tossing the paper to Krusty.

Krusty caught the paper and adjusted his glasses, "It seems the Directress is coming over with a group of officers for a diplomatic meting beyond the Mountains, and they want us to come."

"Say what?! Those nimrods from the Hilltop and the Riverfront get to sit their asses all day while I have to haul my ass all the way back into the dusty Shadowland!?" Alexander cried in shock.

"Afraid so, Sir." Krusty said.

"This blows." Alexander said.

The portly man coughed, "I am Captain Omura, the Leader of Shadowfort-"

"Leader?" Alexander said, "From what I'm told, there isn't any Leader here yet."

"Well, I'm the defacto Leader." Omura said proudly.

"Ha!" Alexander cried, "Haha, and my ass is the President of Mars."

"Show the Captain some respect!" His henchmen hissed, strode forward with four of his mates.

Tank stepped forward and growled, causing Omura's men to back off, but Alexander restrained him cooly with a hand.

"What is it you want?" Alexander demanded.

"Hmph. All I'm saying is that there's an election coming up. If you value the lives of you and your... mercenaries, then you better vote for me." Omura said.

"And if we refuse?" Krusty asked.

Omura smiled. "Now, my friends, we either do this the easy way, or there's always..." His hand drifted to his holster, revealing a pistol, "That "other" way."

Alexander grabbed a broom, "Let's try that other way first!"

"Whoa, calm down boss!" Talon cried.

Omura scowled at him, "Exile Barbarians..."

"You watch who you call barbarian!" Alexander hissed.

"Hmph." Omura said smugly, "I will be coming along the expedition. If you try anything, I will not hesitate to kill you."

"The feeling is mutual, fatboy." Alexander said as Omura walked away, "Can you believe that guy?"

"Yeah boss." Talon said.

"Truly." Krusty mused,

"I'd kick his ass if you want." Tank said.

"It's a good thing you guys are coming along." Alexander said.

"Ummm, Boss, I have this thing to go to..." Talon said.

"I have a date today-" Krusty said.

"I've got Diarrhea... " Tank said..

"Are you kidding me? You'd let me go off with those guys from IDF alone?" Alexander cried.

"Pretty much." Krusty said bluntly.

"Wow." Alexander said in shock, "Don't expect any souvenirs from me, you traitors."

"That's low, boss." Talon said, slightly hurt, "All I ask is a bottle of sand from wherever place you go."

A few minutes later, Mitsuru and her entourage arrived.

Quan, Lee, Junpei and Kenji approached Alexander.

"Yo 'xander." Junpei said.

"Actually, it's ALEXander." Alexander said.

"Come on, no nicknames here, we're all friends." Junpei said, "We want to introduce you to someone."

"Who is it?" Alexander asked, hoping it was a beautiful woman.

"Yup." Quan said. As they led him to a corner, Alexander saw a beautiful APC.

"We're riding her today, her name is Vera. She has a 20 passenger capacity, which fits 18 of us. 10 Officers, 8 Inquisition Grunts. " Lee tapped, "Get inside. Your gear is already in."

When Alexander entered, Mitsuru pointed to a seat across her. Alexander took a seat. The APC started to move.

"Alexander. I'm glad to see you today." Mitsuru said, "You look good in IDF Blue."

Alexander looked at his Combat Fatigues, which were dyed digital blue camouflage, and his red IDF armband, "I look ridiculous."

Mitsuru smiled, "I know we had our differences in the past, but let's try to get along."

Alexander nodded, "Sure."

"I see you're the only one from the Deathseekers who is coming."

"Not like I have a choice in the matter." Alexander said, "Now I know how the African Slaves felt, toiling under the yoke of the white man..."

"Alexander, are you seriously comparing a diplomatic mission to unite the outer tribes of the Shadowlands to one of the greatest tragedies in human history...?" Mitsuru cried in shock.

"Sigh... yes." Alexander sighed.

A few hours of driving, the Officers stopped at a few tribal villages, and gained their pledge of loyalty and support in exchange for support from the local Outposts and patrols. At that point, they gained 9 villages and 2 towns. Alexander also befriended Junpei, Kenji and an Inquisition Private named Cipher.

"I love these government issued Armored Personnel Carriers." Akihiko said as they drove, "Heh, reminds me a bit of myself; Big, can take a punch and fast too."

"I agree. We're sailing." Rio said.

"Yes... like we're on a ship... Sailing from Africa to America." Alexander said, turning to Mitsuru accusingly.

"Alexander, why are you like that? It's completely inappropriate to reference that." Mitsuru chided.

Alexander looked at her, making his irises flare, before bowing his head submissively, "Yes, Massa' Kirijo."

Mitsuru sighed.

"We're close to Outpost Alpha. Zen, mind radioing them before their launch an artillery barrage at us?"

"Copy that." Zen said, picking up the radio, "Eagle to Outpost Alpha, we're coming to your position from the Southeast. ETA 5 minutes. Do you copy?" Zen said.

Static.

"Outpost Alpha, do you copy?" Zen repeated.

Still static.

"I don't understand. We should have established contact by now..." Zen began.

"Stop." Mitsuru said as the driver hit the brakes.

Mitsuru peered above the APC. Alexander and the rest peered outside as well. At the distance, an IDF Outpost was burned out, and its Garrison were nowhere to be found.

"What happened here?" Akihiko said as they approached.

"Search for survivors." Mitsuru commanded.

Alexander and several officers stepped out. Walking up the gate, Akihiko tried to push it open, but it fell down, significantly damaged by what seemed to be a battering ram.

Alexander searched several rooms, and even pocketed a Lander music playing device, but found nothing to indicate the fate of the Outpost's Garrison, except a strange symbol written on the wall of a raven, with its wings stretched to form a C.

"No one here." Alexander said.

"Same here." Akihiko said.

"Looks like the guys who were stationed here just... disappeared." Kenji said.

"Disappeared? What, in a puff of smoke?" Rio cried, "We need to find out when this happened."

"It must have occurred recently. Look at the blood." Mitsuru said, "It looks fresh."

"And these footprints..." Kenji said.

"Looks like dragon footprints." Omura said, eyeing Alexander suspiciously.

"Maybe your mother walked barefoot here." Alexander retorted.

"Exiles..." Omura spat in disgust.

"Wait," Alexander said, standing up and concentrated his eyes, turning them dragonlike.

"What is it?" Mitsuru asked.

"Something... something's not right..." Alexander said.

Suddenly, an arrow struck an IDF corpsman in the leg, "Argh!"

"Holy shit!" Alexander cried, "Ambush!"

"Oh, you don't say?!" Lee snarled sarcastically as spears and arrows rained down on them.

"Form up! Form up!" Mitsuru shouted a command, as the Officers and the Corpsmen locked shields. Several Dark Exiles appeared and rained arrows at them. Alexander hid behind a rock, and grabbed a throwing axe by his shoe-holster. He threw one at a Dark Exile-archer, and it fell into dust with a cry. He retrieved the axe and grabbed the fallen Corpsman.

"Let's go!" Akihiko cried.

"Hurry!" Rio shouted.

Alexander ran, but a Dark Exile threw a throwing club at him, clipping him in the head and knocking him down. The Mask-wearing Exiles quickly captured the injured IDF Corpsman and retreating behind a rock.

"They're gone." Kenji huffed.

"No kidding." Akihiko said, "Looks like they were only interested in that one guy..."

"They... They took Alvin." Cipher said, on the verge of tears.

"Cipher, I'm glad to see you alive and all, but man up!" Lee said, "You're gonna see more deaths before this is over." Lee said, as if he was certain the Corpsman had already died.

"Break out the food. I'm quite hungry." Mitsuru said.

"Ehehehe... Yes, break out the food, Kenji." Junpei laughed nervously.

"You're in charge of logistics! I'm just your assistant!" Kenji cried.

"You didn't bring any food?!" Zen cried.

"This is bullshit! We stopped four times to buy fireworks and now you're telling me we haven't got any food?!" Akihiko cried.

"Hey! We didn't expect the garrison here to be wiped out, so excuse me for believing in us!" Junpei said.

"This is a disaster! We'll all starve to death thanks to Iori!" Omura cried.

"Not so. The nearest town is northeast from here." Mitsuru said, "If we leave now, we'll be there in an hour, maybe two if we drive fast."

"Northeast... That's where those sorcerers live!" Kenji cried

"Those are just rumors superstitious Exiles make up." Omura said.

"I'm with the skinny kid on this one. Those people are weird. And their leader is a witch! We should give that place a wide berth unless we end up with a new asshole growing out our heads." Alexander advised.

"The Sibyllus have a sizable army at their disposal, thanks to 14 tribes they united. They have also sent emissaries with messages of peace. We could use their support and armies." Mitsuru said.

"We don't need 'em." Alexander scoffed, "You have the might of the Deathseekers at your side. And the Defense Force has a larger army. We don't need an army of altar boys and monks to frock it up with us."

"Those "army of Alter Boys and Monks" aided in a raid of a Shadow Outpost, which lead to us capturing a strategic sector rich in wood and minerals." Mitsuru said

"Big deal? Our boys have been sending Shadows crying back home with a pacifiers for three years." Alexander countered.

"That's if you think every Deathseeker can cleanse the Shadowlands from Shadows, which is highly unlikely since you got your asses handed out to you last week." Akihiko said.

Alexander sighed, "Alright, but don't say I didn't told you so. Like Lady Kirijo said, its an hour's drive until we reach the Sybillus redoubt. Lets mount up."

Nodding, Mitsuru and the rest picked up the remaining supplies remaining at the shattered outpost and headed North.

The road was long, snaking up and down several hills and crevasses, but other than a few skirmishes with Dark Exiles, it was uneventful. At the top of the last hill, the Officers caught sight of the vast wastes that was the Shadowlands, which stretched far beyond the horizon.

"I didn't know the Shadowlands would be this big." Kenji muttered.

"Its not a surprise." Akihiko said gruffly, "This is an entirely new dimension."

"It is?" Junpei said.

"Yes. Yamagishi gave us new research that the Shadowlands were formed when Tartarus fell. The debris, Shadows and essence of Nyx were both dense and light enough to cause an anomaly in the space-time continuum, ripping the fabric of our reality and opening a gateway between the Valley where Castle Iwa, Shadowfort and Westguard would stand. It also caused your worlds to enter ours." Mitsuru explained.

"In other words," Akihiko continued, "Its one way in, no other way out, except for the Shadowfort."

Alexander peered out the APC, "We're here."

The officers looked out and saw a formidable settlement on top of a small hill. Its entrance was guarded by palisades and dikes. Several crossbowmen guarded the hill, as well as men wielding long-axes, wearing armor and robe-like surcoats. They all wore coifs that resembled priestly miters, and were veiled with steel chainmail. Their sigils (symbols) were a Crossed X with an Eye in the middle.

"Heh, they look like guys from the Kingdom of Heaven." Junpei said.

Alexander hissed a breath of steam.

"Do you know these men, Alexander?" Mitsuru asked.

Alexander nodded, "Yeah. We've had a few border disputes, and I sent scouting party to forage these hills, and they all came back piece by piece in four large baskets, with that sigil."

"Hold off your quest for vengeance." Mitsuru warned.

"Sigh..." Alexander breathed in defeat, "I still think-"

Suddenly, the APC hit a bump, and a small explosion erupted from under the chassis.

"Whoa!" Akihiko shouted as Quan struggled with the wheel. They careened wildly before stopping abruptly.

"Is... Is everyone alright?" Mitsuru gasped.

"Yeah, we're good." Junpei managed.

"Mff... Mffff!" Kenji said, trying to get Junpei's foot out of his mouth.

"Argh! Zen, get your elbow off my ribs!" Lee hissed, holding up a plate of ribs.

"Gross! I thought there wasn't any food?!." Zen cried.

"What the hell was that?" Rio said.

Quen went out, "Improvised Explosive Device. Not a very good one." He said, inspecting the blast, "The chassis seems intact, but the explosion blew out the damn radiator."

"Can you fix it?" Zen asked.

"Does a bear shit in the woods?" Lee asked.

"Uh, yes. Quite frequently, in fact." Mitsuru said, unaware that was a rhetorical question.

"Yeah, I can fix it. I mean, it's not completely FUBAR. I might be able to fix it, but I need to make a dash back through the hill. I saw a few destroyed cars nearby." Quan said.

Lee nodded, "And the rest of the grunts can help you out. The Officers will treat with the Sibyllus. Cipher, you come along so you can document it."

"Yes, Sir." Ciper saluted.

"Great. One Officer for one Grunt. I thought I was worth more?" Quan sighed.

"It seems like a good plan." Mitsuru said, "Good luck, Lao."

Quan nodded and grabbed a toolbox.

The Officers continued on foot. Thirty minutes later, they arrived. As they stepped into the Redoubt, the Sybilline Guards formed a line along the entrance. As the Officers dismounted, they all pounded the butts of their long axes to the stony ground.

"Just keep walking..." Mitsuru said cooly, "No sudden movements."

The Officers kept walking, until they were greeted by two people, a beautiful woman and a tall, bald man with a hooked nose.

"Damn, they're hot!" Junpei whispered.

"Shut up, Junpei. Don't screw this up." Akihiko said.

"Greetings, Leaders of Iwa." The man said, "Long have we foreseen this visit. I am Lucius Draconus, Steward of Sibyllus."

"I am Sybilla, Seer of the Void, and Mistress of Sibyllus." The green haired woman said proudly.

Alexander locked eyes with the beautiful Seer, who looked at him hungrily.

 ** _A/N: Sorry for the late updates. I am not the writer I used to be (being busy and having ZERO creativity. Part two is coming soon, since the original part of this chapter was too long, and will take longer to finish.) atleast with this one done, I can focus on finishing the last part._**

 ** _Remember, if you like it, REVIEW IT. It's not much. Just type a few words of gratitude, violence, anger, happiness and BOOM! You reviewed!_**

 ** _"Hope you enjoyed." Cipher said somewhat unethusiastically._**


	8. Sibyllus Part 2: No Gods, No Masters

Mitsuru bowed, "I am Mitsuru Kirijo, Directress of the Iwatodai Defense Force. We are here to discuss terms of diplomacy and secure your support for stability of the Shadowlands. This is Akihiko Sanada, my Adjutant, Zen Stryker, Captain of my Guard, my officers and Alexander Dragonchild, our newest recruit."

"Alexander Dragonchild." Lucius mused, "Are you the half-dragon Leader of the Deathseekers? The one who raided these lands and murdered many of our people?"

"Yes. I mean, unless you know of any OTHER dragons fucking with humans." Alexander said, causing Mitsuru to sigh.

Lucius was unperturbed, as was the Seer. The Guards were impassive, but the Officers were either shocked or quiet.

"All that is behind us, I hope." Lucius said at length, "In the meantime, honored Directress, we would be pleased if you joined us for dinner." Lucius said, "We may discuss terms of alliances with the Defense Force."

"Where's your army?" Alexander asked.

"On patrol." Sibylla chirped.

"All of them?" Alexander said.

"Yes." Sybilla said, staring at him. Alexander seemed uneasy in the presence of his Sibyllus hosts. Mitsuru nudged him to act normal.

"Now, shall we begin?" Lucius said.

"We would be honored." Mitsuru said.

"The Keep is yours to explore. We only ask that you refrain from entering the West Wing of the Castle."

"What's in the West Wing?" Alexander asked.

"It is forbidden! Come..." Lucius said, licking his lips, "Enter our abode."

Everyone walked forward, except Alexander.

"Wait." Alexander said suspiciously, "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Lucius raised an eyebrow, "And what might that be?"

Alexander pursed his lips, "Bread and salt?"

Lucius seemed uncomfortable, "Uh..."

He looked to Sybilla, who nodded. Lucius cleared his throat, "Fetch bread and salt."

A servant bowed and brought a platter with an O shaped bread and a bowl of salt in the middle.

"Oh, how nice." Kenji said, "Is this an appetizer?"

Lucius chucked, "This is merely a formality-"

"Guest Rite." Alexander said, "Host protection."

"You have nothing to fear here." Lucius reassured.

"Don't we?" Alexander said dubiously.

The air was thick with tension, until Mitsuru diffused the situation by taking a piece of bread, dipping it into the salt and consuming it. The others followed suit.

As the Officers entered the foyer of the Sybilline Sister's Keep, they were led to a large room, where veiled servants gave out wine, crackers and cheese fondue.

Junpei sat on the silk couch as well as Kenji and Lee.

"Ah, this is the life." Junpei sighed, sipping on wine, "I can get used to this."

"So, uh, Alexander... I have to ask..." Kenji mumbled, "Given your anatomy... And ancestry, most of the guys and myself are wondering..."

"Come on, out with it man." Alexander said.

"Who's the dragon? Your mother or your father?" Les asked.

Alexander rolled his eyes, "That should be plainly obvious. How can you even ask me that?!" He cried, as he stood up to get more food.

Grabbing a plate, he walked to the bar, where a strangely absentminded barkeep was cleaning glasses.

"Gimme some bread and crackers." Alexander said.

The Barkeep nodded and gave him an ample serving of bread and crackers.

"Thank-" Alexander began, but stopped short when he saw the glassy, almost fishlike black eyes of the barkeep. He waved a hand back and forth, but the eyes were motionless.

Suddenly, an arm tapped him in the shoulder. It was Lucius, with Sibylla.

"How do you like our Holdfast?" Lucius asked, smiling wide, which unsettled Alexander.

"Cozy, I suppose." Alexander said, swirling a wineglass the barkeep gave him.

"Walk with me." Sibylla said. She held his hands and walked to the second floor. Alexander look out of a balcony with her.

"This keep was an old mine." She explained, "In my world, this was a castle for some minor nobleman. Now, it's our home."

Alexander said nothing and sipped on his wine.

"Where did you materialized when all this happened?" Sibylla asked.

"South of those hills." Alexander said, "Past the Forest."

She nodded, "I can sympathize with you. In my old world, I was a slave. Stolen from my home, sold as chattel and enslaved. It was only because of my prophecies have I kept myself and these people alive."

Alexander looked at her in horror, "Kept alive...?"

Sibylla looked at him and smiled. Suddenly, a cry was heard from the gate. A small party of Sibyllus Guards were carrying a wounded IDF Corpsman, the one who had been abducted, in a stretcher. Along with them were several Dark Exiles who were bloodied and gagged.

Alexander ran to the gates, and met up with Mitsuru and the Officers.

"Alvin!" Cipher cried. The Corpsman was unconscious.

"What happened?" Mitsuru asked the Guard. He stood motionless.

"Tell us!" Akihiko said.

Sibylla sharpened her gaze at the Guard, "Ÿdrassis ruso."

The Guard placed a hand on his chest and spoke in a foreign tongue.

Sibylla nodded, "Your friend was being tortured by these Exile Slavers, who planned to sell him into slavery after extracting information. His leg is badly hurt and will need to be treated by our healers."

"This looks bad. We should radio a helicopter to take him to Iwatodai-" Cipher said.

"NO!" Sibylla said suddenly, surprising everyone, "I mean... Our Healers shall do their best to mend the wounds until your pilots arrive." She bowed.

"That... will do." Mitsuru nodded.

Sibylla looked to the Guards, "Gurogon geinagon."

They placed their hands to their chest and moved, dragging the Slavers, who were frantically trying to say something, away.

Sybilla then led Mitsuru and the others away.

"Sibylla." Alexander looked at her, "Just what are you up to?"

Wanting to do something, Alexander decided to snoop around. He went up the 2nd floor and noticed several old books, which he couldn't read. Next, he went around some of the rooms, which were either empty or had nothing of interest. Realizing that the forbidden West Wing was his best hope, he went back and peeked through the door to the West Wing. It was dark, musty and felt boding. He saw a portrait of a woman, Sibylla, portrayed in a classical Renaissance style painting, with the inscription, "1666". He was about to explore, but noticed many guards approaching.

Something was behind Alexander. It grabbed him and pulled him to a shadowy corner.

"May I speak with you for a minute?" Mitsuru whispered to Alexander.

Nodding he said, "What's up?"

"What is the matter with you? You're being very rude to our hosts!" She hissed, "Talking out of turn is one thing, but trespassing and sneaking around? What has gotten into you!?"

Alexander looked around, "I don't like it here. I say we should just take the food on-the-go and leave. My dragon senses are tingling all over."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

He scoffed, "Are you kidding me? Have you seen the Guards or the people around here? The only people talking are either Sibylla or his creepy steward Lucho-"

"Lucius."

"Whatever. Also, normally, before anyone asks anyone to enter their homes as guests, they would offer them bread and salt as a sign of Host Protection. Since we weren't offered any, its kind of a red flag, isn't it?"

Mitsuru placed her hand on her chin, "Maybe their culture it different."

He shook his head, "It's a universal trait among Exiles. Even my Guild practices it. Also, don't you think that by this time, the Sibylline Army would return from whatever patrol they're at? There's no sign of them here or anywhere."

"Maybe they're camped elsewhere. This is sacred ground." Mitsuru said.

"Sacred ground?" Alexander scoffed incredulously, "Junpei, Kenji and I took a piss by those bushes over there minutes ago. I'm still waiting for some hill deity to smite my dick off."

Mitsuru sighed, "Alexander, your blasphemous contempt for the divine is refreshing, but please keep it to yourself. At least, until we get their alliance."

A horn sounded.

"That must be dinner. Please, Alexander, ATTEMPT to be diplomatic." Mitsuru pleaded.

"I'll give it a try." Alexander sighed.

They entered the dinner table. It was laden with appetizers, soup, bread and fruits. Lee packed several pieces of bread, fruits and soup in tupperware and ordered Cipher to send it to Quan and the others.

After eating, and spilling soup over himself, Alexander stood up to wash his hands, but as he did, he smelled food down the hall, toward the kitchen. He followed the smell, and stopped when he saw scuff marks on the floor. He prised a piece of the wood, which revealed a door. He entered it and shut it. It was pitch black, but his dragon eyes adjusted to the low light conditions.

As quiet as he tried to be, the floorboard he stepped on creaked noisily, he stopped and looked back. No one seemed to notice. He descended down the stairs and saw a cable running through from the basement door, to a cabinet. He then entered a dark corridor, where it stank of excrement, body odor, urine and fear. Pinching his nose, he ignited a piece of wood and explored. The cells were emptied recently. He followed footprints which lead to a sealed door. He melted the lock with his breath and muscled his way through the door. It lead to a room filled with blood, and various tools of torture and evisceration, and several clothes, weapons and personal effects in an open cabinet, but the one that caught his attention was a well-worn iron rack shaped like an X, with a pool of blood underneath it.

Alexander smelled the blood, which was definitely fresh. He looked around and saw a light behind a rack of tools. He pried it open with his claws and smelled flesh. It was a cold room, which had strange symbols and a slab table in the center. It was also filled with meats dangling from hooks.

"Ugh..." A voice moaned and touched his hand.

"Oh my gods..." Alexander whispered in horror, "What the hell...?"

To his horror, the IDF Corpsman treated earlier was lying on a bed, his legs amputated.

The Corpsman opened his eyes. He seemed drugged, "You... You... Dragon..."

"What... what... what the hell happened to your legs, man?!" Alexander shuddered in horror.

"They had to take... It..." He gasped, "Don't... Trust..."

A noise was heard at he opposing door.

"Come on, I gotta get you out of here." Alexander said, unbuckling his restraints.

He grabbed Alexander. "No... time... Don't... eat... the meat..." He whispered while coughing, "Hide."

Nodding, Alexander hid behind several boxes.

Four Guards and an old crone were speaking in a foreign language. She pointed to the Corpsman. They carried him and strapped him to the slab table. To Alexander's horror, she unsheathed an iron knife and began chanting with a melodious voice. After a long chant, she ended with the words, "Corvus."

She plunged the knife from the Corpsman's trachea, down to his xiphoid process, bisecting the Corpsman's chest. His cries of pain were drowned by the gurgling of his own blood. She ripped out his beating heart, severed the arteries and veins and threw it to a brazier. It cracked with sparks and embers. But what shocked him more was that the old crone was gradually becoming younger and younger, until she looked exactly like Sibylla.

"What am I thinking...!?" Alexander thought, "It IS Sibylla!"

Sibylla shouted orders at the Guards. As she left, they hacked the Corpsman's body apart. He thought nothing of it, until he saw a tattoo in a hind piece hanging on a meat hook. And fingers and toes in another. It was in this moment he saw the meat for what, and realized what the poor Corpsman was trying to say.

"Oh fuck...!" Alexander whispered in horror, "I fucking knew it! Oh shit!" He stumbled out and vomited copiously. He quickly left the room, but slipped on the puddle of his own vomit and flew up the stairs in haste. When he entered the dinner room, the Officers were already chowing down, especially Lee, Junpei and Kenji.

"You should really try this steak, Directress!" Lee said, stuffing his face.

"I agree, the rareness and flavors of this thing is to die for. Not like I can afford to die can these days but still." Zen said as he sliced up the "steak" and ate it.

"Oh, very well. Alexander's taking too long anyway." Mitsuru said as she began carving up her meal.

Retching, Alexander forcefully swallowed the vomit that was making its way up his mouth and raced across the room and shouted with all his might, "NO! SPIT THAT OUT, YOU GUYS!"

Mitsuru stopped just in time, as she dropped her fork.

"You sick bastards!" Alexander cried and tried to charge at Sibylla, but Lucius and the Guards stopped him.

The Officers looked appalled at his behavior. Mitsuru's face turned from surprised to furious.

"What is the meaning of this?" Mitsuru demanded.

"So rude!" Rio chided as she threw down her spoon and fork.

"Man, Alex! What's wrong with you?!" Lee cried.

"You're acting like a real ass!" Akihiko hissed.

Then, Zen turned to Sibylla, "I apologize for his behavior. He's our newest recruit, a Dragonchild-"

"It's quite fine... Maybe he's vegetarian." The Oracle Sybilla said amiably, smiling at Alex.

"He could use some goddamned manners!" Omura said, chewing on his meat.

"That's not normal meat!" Alexander shouted.

"What's gotten into you, Alexander?" Rio said.

"Think about it! There's no meadows or grazing areas around here. This place is a fucking desert, for tit's sake!" He cried, "And have ANY of you fools seen any animals anywhere nearby?"

"Aw, just sit your Exile ass down and eat!" Omura spat.

Rio looked worried. She grabbed Kenji's plate and set it aside.

"Hey! C'mon, get your own, I was eating that!" Kenji protested.

"It doesn't MATTER where they got the meat! These people made you dinner, you ungrateful little shit." Omura hissed, "If you don't want to eat, then get the hell out and let us enjoy our meal. Your disgusting Exile attitude makes me want to vomit!"

Alexander's fury peaked, "You know what, Omura? Fuck you. Eat up, you slobbering pig!"

"I will, and I shall enjoy every bite." He said smugly, noisily chewing on a cut. Alexander was about to vomit.

"Explain. NOW." Mitsuru said furiously.

The Oracle studied his face, "From the look on your face... it seems as though you've witnessed my ritual."

"So he was an Exile... Interesting..." Lucius purred, "I noticed the taste seemed better than most of the stock we come by..." He said, tasting the meat again.

Mitsuru's eyes narrowed, "What do you mean...?"

"Ouch!" Omura cried suddenly.

"What is it?" Zen said.

"Just a piece of grit, or perhaps a bone..." Omura said, pulling something out of his mouth.

It was an arrowhead.

"What the...?" Omura dropped it.

Mitsuru slowly turned her steak to the side and dropped her fork in shock. Her roasted hindquarter had an IDF tattoo.

"YOU'RE EATING HUMAN MEAT!" Alexander shouted with exasperation, "That's... That was the CORPSMAN'S' LEGS! He was shot by an arrow!"

Everyone's faces turned pale. Junpei stopped chewing, so did the rest.

"These people... These animals... They're slaughtering people... Using their blood for dark rituals and then eating them!" Alexander cried, "They're CANNIBALS!"

Kenji dropped his fork and looked green. The other Officers wasted no time in emptying their stomachs on the floor.

Akihiko and Lee quickly upturned the table and drew his blade. The other Officers followed suit.

"You sons of bitches! I'll fucking kill you!" Lee roared.

"Why?" Alexander demanded, "Why are you doing this?"

Lucius smiled, "As you well know, cannibalism has its roots in Ancient Greece. Saturn of Old was a cannibal-god, and he brought forth the Golden Age of Rome. Nyx is mother to all... And to consummate this pact and keep it sacred, we have to consume human flesh."

The Oracle looked at Alexander, "How about it? I sense you hold a great power within. Would you join us? Partake in the Banquet of Saturnus and claim immortality!"

"Go to hell! You bastards are sick! Sick in the head!" Alexander shouted, "This is sacrilege to the dead!"

"What is dead may never die." She said, licking her lips, "They only make us stronger."

More Guardsmen approached.

"And what did you do to the IDF troops stationed at the nearby outpost?" Mitsuru demanded, pointing her rapier at the Oracle, "Speak before I thrust my blade into your throat!"

"They were... put to good use." Lucius smiled devilishly, causing the Officers to feel sick.

Omura retched and vomited, "You Exile barbarians! I will eviscerate you all with my bare hands!" He cried.

"Worry not... we only go after those who are about to die... Unfortunately, it's all of you." The Oracle said dangerously.

"Mitsuru, to the doors!" Alexander shouted as he drew his sword. The guards of the Oracle were already aiming at them with crossbows.

"We are LEAVING!" Rio shouted, "Right now!"

"You're not going anywhere!" Lucius hissed, and several guards surrounded them, "Take these meddling Landers to the dungeons. Their minds may be rebellious.. But their flesh will serve us well."

A Guard grabbed Akihiko, who turned and punched him so hard his headgear came off. It was the Slaver, whose eyes were now glassy and fishlike. Akihiko, too shocked to react, was wrestled to the floor.

Alexander saw a wine cup. He reached for it.

"Don't move." Lucius commanded.

"I just want a drink." Alexander said.

"I said don't move!" Lucius shouted, pointing a crossbow at Alexander.

"I just want a drink before you kill me." Alexander said, before gulping.

"It appears you have a drinking problem, Lander." Lucius smirked.

"You're right about one thing; I do have a drinking problem. Do you know what you're wrong about?" Alexander asked.

"Do enlighten me." Lucius said with feigned interest.

Alexander smiled, "I'm not a Lander." He said before unleashing a torrent of flame at Lucius and his guards, incinerating them.

"Run!" Alexander cried, as he unleashed another jet of flame at the Oracle, who ducked.

As the Officers ran out, the main entrance was guarded by a group of Longaxemen. Taking Mitsuru's hand, Alexander tried to led them upstairs, but found more guards aiming at them with crossbows. Soon, they were all surrounded and had no choice, but to surrender. But Alexander defiantly incinerated a dozen more.

The Guards shot them with darts tipped with tranquilizers. Alexander and the Officers felt woozy, and fell to the ground.

When they came to, Alexander was locked inside a small room, with Lee, Mitsuru, Omura and Rio, with Lee banging loudly on the door.

"LET US OUT OF HERE!" Lee screamed and added several profanities from his own language, "YOU CAN'T KEEP US HERE FOREVER! LET US OUT!"

Rio was vomiting on one corner, touching her uvula to activate her gag reflex. Omura was removing bits of vomit from his beard with a handkerchief. Mitsuru was quietly watching over Alexander.

"You're awake," Mitsuru said, "Drink this." She handed him a clay container with water.

Alexander drank a few sips before standing up, "Where are we?" He asked, noting the dim lights casted by the torches outside.

"Deep underground, I suspect." Mitsuru said, "We can hear people outside, mining."

"Where are the others?" Alexander asked.

"Probably locked up somewhere. We heard Junpei trying to sing his way out." Rio said, before vomiting.

"Is there any food? I'm starving. I haven't eaten since breakfast." Alexander said.

Mitsuru shook her head.

"Let us out!" Lee shouted.

"Be quiet, Lee. They're more liable to hang us than let us out." Omura said.

"Then what should we do?!" Lee said angrily, "I'm not sticking around so they can turn my buttocks into an ass steak!"

Rio turned green and vomited, "I... can't believe I ate... human..." She retched again.

Suddenly, the door banged twice. A small hatch below the door opened, as the Guards slid inside a tray of food.

Lee grabbed it, but fell back with a cry. It was a piece of human thigh.

"Ugh, that's disgusting!" Alexander cried.

"You turned those guys to ashes, can't you do that again?" Lee said, "Blow this door down."

"I can, but I'd need inner flame to do it. The wine helped. Those Cannibals did a good job keeping us here. I'd have escaped in seconds outside."

"Let me think..." Mitsuru said, "How does it work? Do you blow out a jet of flame?"

Alexander blushed, "That's not really how it works. What happens is that if my stomach produces enough gastric juices, it causes a heartburn. Since Dragons, and their ilk such as myself, have a smaller, wider esophagus, we get frequent heartburns, which causes our gastric acids to spill into out lungs, which we cough out. Our gastric acid is highly flammable, due to our ability to convert it into acetone vapors, and when we cough, it produces a mist, which we ignite with our breath."

"Huh. I guess all magic has some kind of scientific explanation." Lee mused.

"So, what do you need to do?" Rio asked.

"Normally, I'd use wine, or milk, or anything with vinegar, acid content or high fat. We don't have any right now, unfortunately." Alexander said.

Mitsuru thought for a while. Her gaze fell on the thigh. "Alexander... I want to tell you something, but you have to promise to hear me out."

"I will, Mitsuru... What are you thinking...?" Alexander said, uncomfortable at Mitsuru's stonelike gaze.

She walked over to the human meat.

"Senpai, whatever you're thinking, it's not worth it! Don't eat it!" Rio pleaded.

"..." She bit her lip, before looking at Alexander.

"Excuse me?" Alexander said.

"Human fat contains high fat, yet low carbohydrates. It induces higher levels of gastric acid productions." Mitsuru said.

"And...?" Alexander said, now highly disturbed, "Where are you going with this!?"

"I'm just saying... What if you HAD enough gastric acid to cause a backdraft to blow the door open..." Mitsuru said.

"I already told you there's nothing we can do. No wine." Alexander said.

"Of course, of course... But if you had some... alternative." Mitsuru said awkwardly.

"Wh-What are you driving at...?" Alexander said.

She looked at the meat, "Eat it."

"What?!" Alexander cried.

"Eat it, Alexander." She repeated.

"You're out of your fucking mind!" Alexander cried, pointing at Mitsuru.

"Now, you promised to hear me out." Mitsuru said, trying to placate him, "It's not even that big of a deal. You said yourself that you were starving."

Omura looked at Alexander. "And aren't you a dragon? Don't Dragons eat humans?"

"I'm HALF A DRAGON." Alexander pointed out, "Humans are half monkey. I don't see guys throwing your feces around."

"I saw you eat raw meat one time!" Lee cried.

"Yeah, ANIMAL meat!" Alexander said.

"So? Is that really any huge distinction?" Rio said.

"To me it is!"

"Nonesense!" Omura hissed, "For all we know, you're probably in on this whole thing!"

"You know what, Omura? I've had it with you. The next time you try to talk, count your teeth, because that's the next thing coming out of your mouth the next time it opens!" Alexander warned.

"Silence, the both of you!" Mitsuru cried, "Accusations and threats won't get us out of here."

"Use Omura's head as a battering ram to open the door." Alexander spat.

"Alexander..." Mitsuru seethed.

"You know what...? I can't even... You... You... That's sick! That is sick! How messed up are you people that you would even ask me such a thing?!" Alexander spat

"Okay, calm down, bru." Lee said.

"Ugh!" Alexander seethed with anger

"We're just talking!" Lee said with a smile, "We're not doing anything yet, I mean, Dragons DO eat humans. It's not a judgement, it's a fact. All we need you to do here is take a small bite of the human meat, chew it, swallow it, and repeat until all you have left is a femur. Yeah... Wrap your head around that."

"There is NO WAY that is happening!" Alexander said furiously.

"Well, I don't see any option here, do you?" Rio said.

Alexander grumbled, groaned and hissed. Defeated, he pushed Mitsuru and Rio aside in anger and sat down beside the thigh.

"It's so sweaty..." He moaned.

Mitsuru nodded.

"Okay..." Alexander said, and took three breaths and dove for the thigh.

"Wait!" Omura cried.

"For fuck's sake, what?!" Alexander hissed.

"Do it in a corner!" Rio urged, "It's gross!"

"You ASKED me to do this!" Alexander cried.

"Yeah, but it's your... thing, you know?" Omura said.

Alexander rolled his eyes and turned around. Sighing, he dove in and hastily ate the meat, pinching his nose. After vigorously eating a fair amount, he gasped for air, "I can't finish!"

"You have to! You're almost done! We can use the femur as a club." Lee said.

"There's no turning back now." Mitsuru said.

"I hate you people." Alexander sighed and continued eating.

Rio looked sick, and held her stomach.

"Ugh... Ugh..." Lee said, turning green, "UGHHHH!" He heaved, vomiting all over Omura's shoes.

Alexander held a femur up, "Done."

"And we thank you for that." Mitsuru said.

Suddenly, the door rattled noisily. Alexander crouched, as Lee took position by the door, the femur raised high above his head.

"Step back!" Someone shouted.

The door sprang open after a huge explosion. After the dust cleared, six men came inside.

"Attack!" Mitsuru cried.

Alexander blew a jet of flame at a man, igniting his pants. Lee jumped and tried to strangle another with the femur. Omura threw rocks as Rio punched another.

"Hey, we came to rescue you!" A voice cried. It was Quan.

Lee let go of the Corpsman he was strangling, which was Cipher. Quan took off his coat and smothered the Corpsman on fire.

"You son of a bitch, what took you so long?! Do you know what you put me through?!" Alexander hissed, choking on Quan. Lee, Rio and the other corpsmen restrained him.

"Quan, I'm glad to see your red ass. What brought you back?" Lee said.

"Cipher." Quan said, fixing his collar, "After he brought back the food, he came back and saw the whole confrontation."

"Yeah. I ran back as fast as I could." Cipher said. Lee patted him in the back.

"We managed to overhear them taking you to the mines below their sanctum. So we radioed the men left at the APC to call for Minato. Then we followed the guards, and found hundreds of IDF men and the former Sibylline guards working the mines. We're freeing them after we get to Junpei and the rest."

"Then let's go." Mitsuru said. After running through the passes and halls, they freed Akihiko, Zen, Kenji and Junpei and worked to free the prisoners as well. They numbered several hundred.

Mitsuru led the way. As they traversed the path, they ended up on a bridge, with a narrow corridor. After allowing the prisoners to pass, the Officers ran as well.

Twang!

A crossbow bolt landed in front of Junpei.

"Whoa!" Junpei cried. Looking around the balconies, and cliffs, they were surrounded by several dozen crossbowmen. Sibylla stood at the end of the path they had just passed by.

"Alexander..." Sibylla breathed.

"Sibylla..." Alexander said, "Is this all the men you have?"

She nodded, "Some of these men are mercenaries. I've recruited them since my other men were... incinerated."

Alexander nodded, "Do you know why they call me the Dragonchild?"

"I am not interested in an anecdote." Sibylla said.

"It's not an anecdote. It's a demonstration." Alexander said.

Mitsuru and the others ducked.

Alexander blew an almighty jet of pure flame at the crossbowmen, incinerating dozens of them and causing the rest to scatter.

Alexander approached, towering Sibylla, looked on with shock and horror, "What will you do...!?"

He turned to Mitsuru, "Tell the prisoners to loot this place for all its worth. Leave us."

Mitsuru, who understood not trying an angry dragon's temper, herded the Officers away. Commanding the liberated prisoners to loot the stronghold, they found several treasures, including Sibylla's golden stool, a bejewelled choker, an armor made with dragonbone and obsidian, and a lance, as well as five hundred suits of armor, a thousand swords, a thousand pikes, six hundred longbows, five hundred shields, six hundred quivers filled with arrows, eight hundred crossbow and quivers, five thousand sacks of grain, two hundred casks of wine, liquor and spirits, fifty bolts of silver, a few boxes of velvet, three hundred pieces of linen and nearly a fortune's worth in gold furniture, and other luxuries and treasure. They then turned to the mine. They took every bit and piece of metal, including silver and gold ingots, iron ore and smelting tools. They left no rock unturned.

As they loaded all these down, Minako and Minato arrived via helicopter.

"Whoa..." Minako said, eyes gleaming at the horde of treasure, "Look at all this!"

"Long story." Mitsuru said, "We need more APC's and several transport helicopters to haul all this out."

"Right. I'll contact Castle Iwa and the Shadowfort for assistance." Minato said, "Where's Alexander going?"

Alexander walked to the mountain. After confirming that no one was left inside, he gave a loud cry and erupted into his dragon form, punching the mountain, causing a rockslide that blocked off the lower levels of the mountain. He then enveloped the mountain in dragonfire, melting the rocks and sealing the entrance forever. He then turned back to his human form, completely naked. He then planted an IDF flag at the foot of the mountain.

"For goodness sake, Alexander." Minako said, covering her eyes.

"What? Oh, come on, I had to. Let them know that we mean business." Alexander said.

"No, yeah, I get that." Minako said, "Put on some clothes!"

"Sigh... I can't catch a break." Alexander sighed.

They stayed on, loading the loot to a caravan of APC's and the Helicopters, staying well into the night. At 3am, they began to leave.

"Once again, Junpei saves the day." Junpei said proudly, loading his gear inside the helicopter.

"Say what, Junpei?!" Akihiko cried, "This mess wouldn't have happened if you did your damn job and brought food!"

"Hey, it turned out for the best." Junpei said, "Except Alexander eating human meat."

"Hey! Who told you about that?" Alexander punched Junpei in the arm, "WHO TOLD YOU ABOUT THAT?!"

Minako whistled. Rio blushed.

"Let's forget about that. The worst part of it was that the meat was kind of tasty." Alexander sighed as he climbed onto the helicopter.

"Say, what happened to Sibylla?" Zen asked. Alexander shrugged.

Mitsuru heard a distant scream at the bowels of the mountain, "Oh, no we left someone inside!"

"No, we didn't." Alexander snorted.

Mitsuru thought for a while. Then she nodded. Yawning, the Officers closed their eyes to rest from their harrowing ordeal at the hands of the Exiles they sought to protect.

 **A/N: Rather long chapter. Did you enjoy it? I mainly took inspiration from Skyrim, playing around Markarth. Please be sure to comment if you like it! Tell your friends! Hope you enjoyed.**


	9. Off-Duty

Minato woke up and suited up his armor for the next mission briefing. After putting on his breastplate, Yukari walked in. She wore casual clothes, which confused Minato.

"Knock-knock- Hey, what are you doing with your armor on?" She asked.

"Don't we have a mission?" Minato said in confusion.

"Yeah, but it's 5th and 6th Battalion's shift for the next few days. Weren't you listening at the meeting?" She said.

Minato scratched his chin. It did ring a bell. He remembered a meeting after the extraction, but vaguely recalled sleeping through it from exhaustion.

"Huh." He said absentmindedly.

"You are one distracted guy." She winked, "Wanna go out?"

Minato shrugged, "Sure. Let's go."

"Lets." She said, "But you kinda have to change out of your armor; I don't think it'd make a good fashion statement."

Minato nodded, "I'll head down when I'm done."

"Alright." Yukari said and left.

Minato took off his armor, and returned his weapon to its rack. He then switched to casual clothes, and went out. He stopped by the courtyard garden inside the HQ building and saw Minako sitting by the pond's edge, under a great white tree. She was sharpening and cleaning her weapons and applying something on it.

"Hey, Minako!" Minato called out.

Minako looked up, "Hello." She said, and continued with her work.

"Um... We don't have a mission today." Minato said, coming close enough to see her spear gleam with a grey light.

"Yeah, I know." She said, wiping Sanguine Rose with a wet rag. Minato smelled a sharp, cloying scent from Minako's rag.

"Ew... Yuk! What is that? It smells like perfumed shit!" Minato said, covering his nose from the sickly sweet odor.

"Manticore venom." She winked, "Not really an actual manticore, mind you. Venom of a scorpion, and a viper, combined with nightshade and the blood of a Shadow, so it'll affect them as well. Made it myself. Touch your skin with this, and you'll have skin rashes for hours. Slash your skin with this, and you'll be in a coma for days, while slowly being killed by blood poisoning. Prick yourself lightly with this and your limbs will be immobilized. Rub a little of this on your genitals and your tiny little prick will fall right off."

"Poison is a coward's weapon." Minato said, "Warriors kill with steel."

"That's your stupid pride talking." She said simply, "That's why you won't be a great killer. I'd beat my enemies to death with my pillow if I have to." She said, rubbing the rag briskly.

"Aren't you afraid of being poisoned?" Minato asked.

Minako smiled, and pricked her finger with Sanguine Rose's blade. Nothing happened. "I'm already immune to most poisons and venom." She shrugged.

"Where do you get those?" Minato said.

"I breed them in my closet. The Nightshade is grown in the Gardens. I don't need to tell you where I get the Shadow's blood." Minako said.

"Right." Minato said, scratching hisnhead; His room was adjacent to Minako's, and the thought of an infestation, with Vipers and Scorpions crawling up his pajamas in his sleep disconcerted him, "Well, do you want to hang out?"

"Not interested." Minako said flatly.

"You know, in ancient times, they call that socializing." Minato said.

"Is that so?" She mused, "I'll think about it. I'm tired and I'm bleeding."

"You don't seem wounded-"

Minako gave him a look, "I need to rest, otherwise, a good rampage and killing spree might sate me." She said. She then stood up and grabbed a Bo staff and began to practice.

"Suit yourself. Call me if you change your mind." Minako shrugged and walked off. He marveled at Minako's dedication, but wondered if she was merely bloodthirsty as she was.

Yukari was waiting by the lobby. She smiled when she saw him.

"That took a while!" She cried.

"Sorry, had a chat with Minako. Shall we head out?" He said.

"Lets." Yukari said, grabbed his hand, and they left Castle Iwa for Iwatodai.

Lee was relaxing by the riverside beach, on the banks of the Iwatodai River, East of the Iwatodai Delta. Along with him are Junpei, Kenji, Hayase, Kaz and Quan.

"Man, I'm so glad we could relax for a change!" Junpei said, stretching, "I've been dividing my time studying and kicking ass! I have so little time for myself these days."

"There's nothing better to do than to chill out on the beach and do nothing!" Quan sighed.

"Ugh. Doing nothing is a waste of time! We're being forced on a vacation while the Shadows and Betrayers get to regroup. I feel like a child." Lee said sourly.

"Look at this bro-" Kenji said, rubbing his index finger and his thumb together, "I'm playing the World's Smallest Violin for you."

"Heh!" Kaz scoffed, "Well, I hate to brag, but you have nothing to worry about. Hayase and I have been really busy training the boys and getting them into shape."

"Yeah, well, you two always stay at the base, Kaz. That doesn't count." Kenji dismissed, "We, on the other hand, go on dangerous missions! I even got to go toe-to-toe with that Alexander guy. Made him cry a couple of times before Minato had to stop me."

"Not to mention fighting those cannibals! Man, they were so scared of me, they wet themselves and surrendered!" Junpei boasted.

"Wh-What does that mean?!" Kaz growled, "We can take you on!"

"Heh. Speak for yourself, Kaz." Hayase said, "I want to go for a few laps on the river."

"B-But Hayase! We have to fight!" Kaz cried.

"No, we don't." Hayase said.

"Wh-What kind of athlete are you?!" Kaz cried. He grabbed four parasols and tossed it to Junpei, Kenji and Hayase, "Let's settle this here and now!"

Hayase sighed, "Fine." He said and stood up. The four duelled each other with their giant umbrellas. Sand flew everywhere as the four boys horsed around.

Lee took off his sunglasses, "Hey, keep it down. I'm tryin' to sleep here. Jeez, Quan, can you believe these jackasses...?"

"I'm coming!" Quan cried, charging in with a parasol to Hayase and Kaz's aid.

"No fair! Lee, get over here so this will be a fair fight!" Junpei cried.

"There goes my R and R..." Lee muttered.

Then, Cipher walked up to him, and snapped a salute. He was wearing the Inquisition Scribe Uniform.

Lee saluted back, "What is it, Cipher? Got mail to deliver? Or some kind of interview?"

"Er... No, sir." Cipher said nervously.

"Well, what is it? Hurry up!" Lee said impatiently, "I'm busy."

"Ehem! Sir, I would like to request permission for an extension of my Off-Duty days!" He cried.

"Hahaha! You're joking, right?" Lee said, laughing, "What makes your off days any more important than the others or mine?"

"Um, you see, it's for the Inquisition..." Cipher mumbled, "Our Head of Research asked for me personally to help with the research for at least three days regarding some artifacts and documents we recovered by the Sibylline."

"Request denied!" Lee barked.

"Um, sir, our Head of Research insists upon-"

"Let me meet this person," Lee said, standing up, "I don't care if Minato, or the Directress herself appointed that Head of Research person."

"Very well. She's up on the Hill, sir."

"All right then. Let's meet this... Inquisitor." Lee said, standing up with a smug smirk.

"What's up, Lee?" Quan said,

"I'm going off to meet this Inquisitor of Cipher. I tell ya, I have had it to here with these damned inquisitive inquisitors..."

"I'm coming with you, then." Quan said, grabbing his parasol, "You might need my muscle."

With that, Lee and Quan left with Cipher to meet the head of the Inquisition.

The Investigation Team, Officers and Leaders of the Westguard Naval-Marine Landing Force, were relaxing on the docks of Westguard.

Yosuke took a deep breath aboard the Fleet's flagship 'Dawn's Vengeance'. The salty air mixed with the cool breeze of the riverside.

"Man, this is the life!" He declared, "Have I told anyone here that I always wanted my own ship?"

"Yeah, five times already, if I'm not mistaken." Naoto said.

Kanji smirked, as he was sewing up a flag for the D.V., which was a sword, with a ray of light shining through it.

"Good design," Yukiko noted.

"Ohhhhh, you're good, Kanji-kun!" Rise said.

"Thanks. The Directress suggested this motif." Kanji said, "I'm sewing up the others as well."

"Congrats on that, by the way." Teddie said, "Kanji's getting a big bonus for designing the flags. He got plus points for making the DV Flag."

"Oh, yes, I heard about that motif. Apparently, this ship was named after Minato-san's legendary sword." Naoto said.

"Who cares?" Chie scoffed, "I bet that little rapier of his will snap under Narukami's Godslayer Sword, Blade of Totsuka."

Minato's sword, Deus Xiphos, or God's Blade, contrasted with Yu's katana, Blade of Totsuka, or Godslayer's Blade.

Yu shuffled nervously, "Chie, if anyone hears you mocking the IDF Supreme Commander's sword, you'd probably be stripped of your rank and thrown down the river." He warned, "Besides, Minato's one of the best Shadow Killers in the known world."

"Did he kill Izanami?" Yosuke winked.

"No, but he only managed to defeat Nyx, a primordial goddess, Mother of Darkness and Shadows, shattered Tartarus, the Tower of Shadow broke the Shadow's power around the Iwatodai area, and put them on the run." Yu explained, "If it wasn't for him, we'd never be alive to fight Izanami in the first place. On top of that, he was once dead but came back to life. See my point?"

"Not to mention he seems pretty popular with the ladies." Teddie piped in. Kanji, who was drinking water, choked and blew it out from his nose.

"Seriously?" Kanji said. Yosuke came closer as well.

"You see, it all began with-" Teddie said, and began a long, and strangely detailed story of the love life of Minato Arisato. Yosuke, Kanji, even Yu were somewhat amazed. The girls, however, were not.

"That's impossible." Chie said dismissively, "No way he could've dated THAT many girls without any of them knowing."

"Either they did not know, or they were aware and tolerated it." Naoto said.

"Wonder if Yu-senpai ever had that problem...?" Rise wondered aloud.

"Naaah, couldn't be... right?" Yukiko said, raising an eyebrow at Yu.

Yu shrugged, "I don't know what you ladies are talking about."

Yukari and Minato were strolling by the Iwatodai Bay. They held hands and enjoyed the view.

"Well, a day off is always welcome..." Yukari sighed, "I can really appreciate a bay and the sun on the horizon, rather than mountains and stormclouds..."

"Must be hard being a Ranger..." Minato said, "Luckily, you recieved training as Pink Argus."

"Hmph, y'know, being a Featherman Ranger doesn't make it easier..." Yukari huffed indignantly.

"I'm just messing with you." Minato laughed, "So... How's it been?"

"Well..." Yukari blushed, "I kinda missed you. Haven't seen you for weeks now. I'm always patrolling the Desolation."

"Who's the fool that keeps sending you on patrol?" Minato demanded angrily.

"You, dummy." Yukari said, bonking Minato in the head with a hammered fist.

"Ow! Hahaha." Minato said good-naturedly, "It's Mitsuru. Take your complaints, and bonkings, to her."

"Sorry! I forgot, hitting your Commanding Officer is liable for court martial." Yukari said with a wink.

"What about dating him?" Minato joked.

Yukari shrugged, "It does have its perks, you know..."

Minato reddened, "W-Well, that's a bit of a stretch."

"I'm just messing with you." Yukari said, laughing, "Ooooh! Look, Octopia! Can you treat me to some? Please?" She said, clapping her hands together and bowing.

"Okay..." Minato sighed and fished out his wallet.

"Yes!" Yukari cried in relief. The Octopia lady gave them two servings of Takuyaki.

"I miss this." Yukari said quietly, "Just strolling around, not caring about the fate of the world on our shoulders... Is it true?"

"What? Oh, yeah, Junpei ate Koromaru's dog food after Kenji dared him to. It was funny, but now Junpei has explosive diarrhea -"

"No, I mean with what happened with Mitsuru-senpai's group in the field... Is it true that Alexander burned a mountain down and trapped a woman inside?" Yukari asked,

"It's not as bad as it seems." Minato explained, "They were cannibals. They made Mitsuru and the rest eat human meat."

"Oh my god..." Yukari said with horror.

"Yeah." Minato said, "Luckily, Alexander broke them out. Minako and I were in time to extract them."

"Sigh... Things are so much more complicated now." Yukari said, "Before, it was only Shadows and Strega... Now, we're up against Shadows, Dark Exiles and evil cannibals."

"Things got worse, I'll admit." Minato said, "But as long as we're around, we won't let things go to hell."

Yukari nodded, and raised a takuyaki ball, "Agreed?"

Minato raised a takuyaki ball, "Agreed."

They ate their respective takuyaki.

Lee marched proudly along Castle Iwa. Despite the looks he drew from wearing nothing but swimming trunks and a wifebeater that read, "I got this from my Mama".

Mitsuru and her companion, a woman with teal hair stopped and looked at the three of them.

"Mitsuru-san." Lee, Quan and Cipher snapped a salute.

Mitsuru nodded, "Enjoying your vacation?"

"Quite the contrary, Lady Kirijo. The Head of the Inquisition had the gall-" Lee began.

"Um... Sir...?" Cipher tried whispering,

"Shut up, Private. As I was saying, he had the gall to demand that I extend the leave of this pencil pusher here. Now, I work as hard as any other person here, and I love my Off-Days, but-"

"Sir...!" Cipher tried to interrupt.

"Be quiet, or I'll have you clean out the latrines with your bare hands!" Lee hissed. "This is too much. I request that this fiend show himself to me so I can tear out his eyeballs and skull-"

"Sir!" Cipher cried.

"Shut up, Cipher! If I want you to talk, I will shove my fist up your monkey ass and work your mouth like a puppet!" Lee hissed.

Mitsuru chuckled, "Lee, I want to introduce you to Fuuka Yamagishi."

Lee's eyes turned to Mitsuru's lovely companion. Although she was petite, Lee's eyes were calmed by her quiet allure and dainty charm. He liked how her hair fell softly on her shoulders to her green dress and white labcoat. He liked how her hands were folded, and how her face was pale, but somehow blushing at the same time.

"Uh... Um... Hello, Maam." Lee coughed and blushed.

"Hello!" Fuuka said, "As Directress Kirijo said, I'm Fuuka Yamagishi. Um... I'm sorry for upsetting you."

"Why would you upset me?" Lee said, smiling.

"Because..." Fuuka tried saying, but couldn't speak for some reason.

"Because she's the Head of Research and Inquisition of the IDF." Mitsuru said.

"Oh!" Lee said, slightly embarrassed, "Excuse me for a moment..." He went back and grabbed Cipher by the neck, "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME IT WAS HER?!" He hissed quietly, "I made a fool of myself!"

"He did try, you know." Quan said.

Lee released him and faced Fuuka.

"Um, um... I can have someone else replace Cipher-kun..." She began.

"Oh, no, I insist." Lee said, "I've been trying to get Cipher to do more other than soldiering. It's a good life, I admit, but one must have other aspirations as well." Lee said charmingly.

"That's poetic." Fuuka said, blushing shyly.

Cipher looked on with disbelief.

"Well then, off you go, Cipher." Lee said, patting Cipher in the back, "And if you want to extend Cipher's Off-Days, please," Lee hands her a calling card, "Feel free to call."

Fuuka looked at Mitsuru and blushed, taking the card, "Thank you."

As they left, Lee fell to the ground with a sigh.

Quan laughed and sat beside his friend, sprinkling blades of grass on his head, "Looks like someone's in love."

Minato and Yukari returned to Castle Iwa. After taking a short walk up the hill, they found Minako lounging by the columns beside the great gate.

"Hey, Minako. I like your red shirt." Yukari said.

"Thanks. Will you believe me if I tell you this shirt was white?" She said.

"Oddly enough, I kinda do." Yukari said.

"Neat." Minako said, jumping down, "We got a new recruit. Says he knows you guys. Said his name is Ken Amada. I didn't believe him, but Koromaru seems to like him." She said.

"Ken-kun?" Yukari said with excitement.

"Yeah. He's by the armory." Minako said.

"Let's go!" Yukari said, walking ahead.

Minako walked alongside Minato. She pulled one of his earphones off and placed it in her ear, "So, how was your date?"

Minato shrugged, "We went for a walk and had takuyaki."

"Anything sweet happened?" Minako asked.

"We held hands."

"Hmph. Lame." Minako said, "So, this kid Ken... He thinks he's some kind of wiz with Spears."

"Yeah, he uses it to offset his enemy's height advantage. Like you." Minato said.

"You assclown! You're not that much taller than me!" Minako flared, punching Minato's shoulder.

"I was kidding!" Minato said, trying to dispel her fury, "C'mon..."

As they approached the armory, they were greeted with Ken holding a spear.

"Minato-senpai." He bowed. He had grown up significantly. His hair was longer, and his face was more mature. He was also growing taller.

"Ken. Nice to see younhere. Are you here to sign up for the Defence Force?" Minato asked.

"Yes." Ken nodded, "I'm here. I'm ready. I moved here specifically for that purpose. The IDF provides education, lodging, payment and food, as well as defending the City where Nyx fell."

"Great," Minato said, "As Commander of Castle Iwa's Forces, I'll attach you to Minako's unit. This is Minako Arisato, your Commanding Officer."

Ken bowed, then blushed, "It's nice meeting you."

"Likewise." Minako said.

"Are you two...?" Ken began.

"Me? Related to this stiff? Hell no!" Minako cried, causing Yukari to giggle.

"I'm not a stiff!" Minato said, "I just have a lot of feelings bottled up..."

With that, Minato and the rest enjoyed the remaining hours of their Off-Day.

A/N: Thanks for reading. Review of you like it. :)


	10. Trivia Contest

**A/N: Hey guys, before we start this chapter, I would like to give credit to my good friend and talented author of this chapter, 13TheAce, my wingman in this story, whose support and loyalty is invaluable.**

It's been a month since Alexander and the Deathseekers were defeated by Minato and the IDF and joined shortly after. Only a week has past since the incident with the Sibylla. The integration process had gone fairly smooth, with only minor scuffles here and there, and now the IDF was looking much stronger. Mitsuru announced a break for everyone given the success of their mission and the integration process being finished.

Everyone was finding some way to relax. However, there was one member of the IDF who was oh particularly high spirits.

"Ame-chan!" Teddie, without his bear suit, cried as he was hovering around his friend. "We all that's been going on, it has been a beary long time since we have seen you!"

"Sigh, Teddie, calm down. Can't you see that you're making Marie-san unconformable?" Yosuke said as he was trying to handle the bear.

Marie chuckled a little and shook her head. "No, it's fine Yosuke. I have been busy as well, so it's good to see you two."

"By the way, how has the new gig been working out?" Kanji said.

Marie smiled. "It's been good! Marie, the dedicated news anchor for the IDF News, is ready for action!"

Yosuke smirked wryly. "So, what do you think Yu thinks of your new job?"

A blush spread across Marie's face. "I-I-I have no idea! Why should I care?! I-I-It's not like I WANT him to see me doing well or I w-w-want him to be happy with wh-wh-what I do!" Then she turned away. "StupidjerkfaceIhateyou!"

"Yosuke, don't you know that a woman scorned is never an enemy you want to have." The trio turned to see Minato and Minako walking up to them.

"Exactly, so stop messing with Marie-chan or else I'll shove my foot up your-" Minako started before Minato covered her mouth.

"There are children here, Minako, and I'd hate for Teddie to pick up some words that he shouldn't."

"You're no fun!" Minako jokingly yelled as soon as she removed Minato's hand. "Though I guess you're right. It wouldn't be the same old Ted if he were to curse."

"You two are beary mean! It's not really nice to call someone who's not a kid a kid!" Teddie said while pouting, conforming the pair's comments.

"So, how are things going for the two of you?" Yosuke asked while his friend continued to pout.

"Things have been going good for the most part. We have just been trying to help unify all the forces we have now within the IDF," Minako beamed.

Marie's attention shot to Minato and Minako as soon as she heard this. "Oh, I have some questions about how the process is going. I'm sure the viewers of the IDF News would love to hear as well!" She said.

Minato tilted his head to the side a little bit as he looked at Marie. "You must be the friend that Yu and his gang were telling me about."

The dark haired girl nodded. "Yep! Marie, anchorwoman of the IDF News, at your service! Now," she pulled out a notepad and twirled a pen around before getting ready to take notes. "How would you describe the expansion of the IDF over the last month?"

Minato scratched his head. "Well, we are still working on unifying the new forces we have, such as the notable tribes, Stormfoots, Hornbarks, White Legs, Blackwoods and Suebi. We also recruited notable Exile Mercenaries, such as the Skull Crushers Headhunters, Burned Men and the Deathseekers, with our current organization of the IDF. Getting facilities and supplies for them is going great... but that's not the big problem."

"Oh," Marie looked up from her written notes. "What is then?"

Minako put her hand on her hips and dipped her head, as if in thought. "Even though we are getting everyone together… we are not acting as if we were together. We are just a bunch of groups that say we are under the same organization. Unless we find common ground, I don't think we would be very coordinated."

"What makes you say that?" Marie asked.

"Well, the Stormfoots hate the Hornwoods, the White Legs hate the Blackwoods, and the Suebi hates everyone." Minato said.

"How did you manage to unite them?"

"I told them the simple truth: We unite against the Shadows or we die alone." Minato said.

"Exactly, so we need to come up with a way to, at the very least, start to unify us." Minako said.

"Oh oh oh! I have a beary good idea! What if we did a trivia show like we did with Ame-chan that one time?" Teddie stated, smiling more than usually.

"That's right. That was fun." Marie said, tipping her head as she reminisced.

"You all had a trivia show?" Minato asked.

"Yeah. Marie wasn't feeling too good one day, so we were trying find a way to cheer her up. Surprisingly enough, it was Teddie who came up with the trivia show then as well." Yosuke said.

Marie nodded. "It worked. I was definitely happy with what my friends did for me then. Maybe we can do the same for everyone here now."

"Hmm… a trivia show? That could work." Zen stated his opinion as he made himself known to the group.

"Hey Zen! What are you up to?" Minako asked.

"Mitsuru asked me to find you two to see if we could find a way to bring everyone together. It looks like you already found an idea. I'm sure Mitsuru would approve." Zen said.

Minato thought for a second. "Hmm… I guess we could have someone from each group participate in the game. But where could we have it?"

"I'm sure we could use the ships tonight. It certainly large enough to hold a lot of people, especially if we put gangplanks to connect each ship." Minato said.

Yosuke smiled. "Haha! This sounds like a great idea! I'll go around and let everyone know what's up."

Zen nodded in agreement. "I'll let Mitsuru know as well as the other leaders."

"Kanji, Teddie and I will get the ships ready for tonight." Yosuke said,

Minato smiled. "Alright, let's get everyone on board for this. Let's make this a success guys!"

"Right!" The small group shouted before they broke off to their respective roles. Well… everyone but Minako. She seemed unusually unsure.

This did not go unnoticed by Zen. "Hey, you okay?"

Minako nodded. "Yeah. I guess… I'm not sure about this."

"About what?"

"About this." Minako spread her arms out. "How will we be able to convince everyone to get along with this without going canniballistic! I mean, Christ, one of the tribes we recruited vowed to slaughter another tribe and eat every man woman and child!"

Zen looked down to think for a moment, then looked back at Minako. "Have you done anything since you been here Minako?"

"What? What does that-"

"Just trust me on this. Have. You. Done. Anything?"

"Well… yeah, of course." She seemed unsure of where Zen was going with this.

"Anything new?"

"Yep. Oh, trying Fruit Loops! Those are so good!"

"Anything fun?"

"Uh-huh."

"Anything not so fun?"

Minako sighs. "Yeah."

"Anything you really regret?"

She punched Zen in the gut for that one. "Get to the damn point!"

Zen wheezed. "My point is, you remember doing all those things right?"

"Well, of course. My ass has been here for too long to forget." Minako said.

"Well, you may have a point. We may not be able to convince everyone… today. But with this, we can build towards that. Give everyone a common point to look back and laugh and remember fondly. With enough time and effort, we will get there. This is just a first step. That's what I think anyway."

Minako looked at Zen admirably for a second. "Well, aren't you the smooth talker. What, did Minato's gayness rub off you now?" She joked.

"Well," He scratched the back of his head. "Minato DID helped me out with that one. He's a great leader and an even better friend."

Minako nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, I suppose!"

"Alright, let's get going!" Zen said.

True to Minato's word, the men of the Westguard Naval-Marine Landing Force had transformed the ships into a nice platform for a good size crowd. The decks were so full of people, that Mitsuru had to order some to return to their garrisons. The stage was complete at the Flagship, Dawn's Vengeance, with a table for a three-person panel, four podiums for the contestants, and a large screen behind them.

"Wow, there are a lot of people here." Cipher said as he looked around. He even saw people sitting on the roof of the Westguard Buildings.

"Yeah, I'm still surprised that they got this whole thing together in only a few hours." Chie chimed in.

"Hmm… I still wonder how this is going to work." Talon mused.

"No kidding. Some of these tribals are as likely to fight each other as the Shadows." Alexander said, gulping on champagne and tossing the glass.

Suddenly, the lights turned off as the lights for the stage flipped on.

"What the hell?!"

"I can't see anything!"

"Turn the lights back on!"

"Quit stepping on my foot, Yuka-tan!"

"It's not me, Stupei!"

"Stop calling me that!"

"LADIES AND GENTLE-BEARS!" Teddie's voice roared over the intercom. "Welcome to the Iwatodai Defense Force Trivia Showdown! Let's give a huge round for our host! The voice of the IDF News, she is ready to pick up a scoop at the drop of a hat and is as cute as a button!"

"GET TO THE POINT TEDDIE!" said woman yelled out, interrupting the bear.

"Ahem. Everyone, put your paws and claws together for Marie!" The crowd loudly applauded, and there were some whistling, as Marie walked onto the stage.

"Hello everyone! Who's ready to get started with the Trivia Showdown?" The crowd cheered. "Alright! Then let's introduce our contestants!"

The crowd applauded.

"First, representing the field commanders of the IDF, she is renowned for her insatiable addiction to Froot Loops, her 'gotta-kill-em-all' attitude and skills with the lance. The Bloodthirsty Spear Wielder, Minako Arisato!" A spotlight shone on Minako as she walked onto the stage to one of the podium. As she waved enthusiastically, the crowd cheered.

"Next, he is known for his cool and level head, in and out of combat, plus his skill with a blade is second to none, though I know at least two people who can dispute that claim... Representing the Administrative Branch, Captain Zen Stryker!" Zen got a good bit of applause as he made his way to his podium, waving simply to the crowd.

"Up next, he is known for being explosive, whether it's his personality or his arsenal. The iron-fisted commander of the Wardogs, give it up for Major Lee Aida!" Lee entered bombastically as the crowd cheered wildly for him.

"Finally, last but not least. He is a fiery individual, with the heart of a Dragon, and the leader of the Deathseekers. Give it up for Alexander Dragonchild!" The applause were not nearly as loud as Alexander made his way quietly to the final podium.

"Now let's get the first round under way! These questions are worthy twenty points apiece! However, if you miss a question, you get nothing. First question: This man was an inventor from the US and was known to have said 'Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.' Who was the inventor of many devices such as the phonograph and the light bulb?" A buzzer rang out. "Minako."

"Thomas Alva Edison." A bell sounded as the screen behind the contestants indicated that she had twenty points.

"Alright, next question. This company started out making card games in the late 1800s. Throughout the decades, they have tried to diversify into a taxi company, a tv station, and even an 'instant rice' business. Name this video game company whose name could be mistaken with a Buddhist temple." Another buzzer rang out. "Alexander."

"Nintendo." He growled. Another ring of a bell indicated he had twenty points.

"Third question. This General defeated an army considerably larger than his in the Battle of Cannae!"

"Scipio Africanus!" A different buzzer went off indicating that Lee was wrong.

"Sorry Lee," Marie said. "But that is not the correct answer.

"Damn it!" Lee yelled as the screen indicated that he was now in the red for ten points. A different buzzer rang out.

"Zen?" Marie asked.

"Hannibal Barca." The bell rang out and Zen was awarded twenty points.

"Here's another question! This weapon was used before the katana became the soul of the samurai. It provided great range, even though it was even taller then the wielder using it. What is the name of this legendary bow *buzz* Lee!"

"The yumi!" Another ring of the bell and Lee now had twenty points.

"This is quite an intense round. Four questions in and everyone is on the board. You can feel the energy in the air. Right, everyone!" The crowd roared in response to Marie. "Alright, then, everyone. The first round is over. Let's move on the four question lightning round! But before we being, let's give a hand for our special panel that will be asking the questions!"

"First off, the head of the Administrative Branch, she knows how to lead large organizations, whether it's the IDF or the Kirijo Corporation. Everyone give a hand for Mitsuru Kirijo!" Everyone applauded as the Mitsuru elegantly waved to the audience.

"Next, representing the Wardog Squadron, this man loves to writing whenever he's not in combat. Give it up for Cipher!" The young man waved as the crowd cheered.

"Next, this man is the brains of the Deathseekers, but is still a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. Here's Krusty!" The crowd cheered for Krusty, but not as nearly as loud as for Mitsuru or Cipher, although, the Deathseekers roared in support.

"Finally, he is the leader of the field commanders. No words are needed for this man. Put your hands together for 1st Marshal Minato Arisato!" The decks exploded in applause for Minato as he waved to the crowd.

"Now, let me explain how this work. Each one of our special judges have one question each. These questions are worth fifty points but cost twenty-five if the wrong answer is given. Now, we will see who starts us off." Marie motioned toward the screen.

The screen showed a small roulette, with each of the contestants' name on it, as it began to spin. Slowly, it came to a halt over Lee's name.

"Lee, you get to pick which one of our judges will ask their question first." Marie told the commando.

"Alright. I pick… Cipher." Lee said, eyeing Cipher cunningly.

Cipher pulled out a piece of paper and cleared his throat before starting. "This man was the ruler of Romania during the time of the Ottoman Empire. His name can mean either 'son of dragon' or 'son of the devil'. Known for impaling thousands of his enemies, who was this ruler who inspired Dracula in Bram Stroker's book Dracula?"

*buzz* "Alexander!"

He sighed before answering. "Vlad the Impaler."

A bell rang out. "That is correct. Who do you pick?"

Alexander lowered his head for a moment, then responded. "I pick Minato."

Minato nodded. "This dish is made from octopus. The meal can be made from either a whole squid or the tentacles, but they are cooked on a stick. What is this popular fast food?"

*buzz* "Minako, what's the answer?"

She replied. "Ikayaki!" Another bell sound and another fifty points for Minako.

"Yay! I pick Directress Kirijo!"

Mitsuru smiled gently before she asked her question. "This invention was created in France in 1783. Today, it is used throughout the world as a way to travel the sky for short periods of time. What is the name of this mode of transportation?"

*buzz* "Lee, do you know the answer?" Marie asked.

The commando smirked confidently and winked at Fuuka. "It's the hot air balloon!" The bell rang out and Lee was awarded fifty points. The crowd, upon hearing the bell… was silent for a few moments.

"How… did he know that the hot air balloon was French?" Yukiko asked after a moment.

"I… have no idea." Akihiko responded.

"I told him that the other day." Fuuka smiled. Marie didn't hear her though, and was just as confused as almost everyone else.

"Well… um, I guess we can continue. Since we have only one judge left, would you please read off your question, Krusty?"

"Alright. This style is known from having a balance between beauty and chaos. Though it is primarily black and grey, it does utilize red as an accent. What is the name of this increasingly popular tattoo style?"

Zen's buzzer rang out. "Zen! What's the answer?"

"Trashpolka." He answered with a smile. The bell rang out and Zen earned another fifty points.

"Alright! That's the end of the lightning round. Let's check in on the progress of our contestants!" The screen illuminated with everyone's current score. "Alright! Minako has a slim lead over Zen and Alexander, who are both tied for second. But Lee is not too far off as well! It's anyone's game! Now, we will now have a quick five minute break before the final

"This is actually pretty fun!" Chie stated.

"You're right! I wonder how the finale will go." Rise pondered.

Yu nodded. "They all have been doing really well so far."

"Heh, I thought events like this would suck, but it's really turning out to be fun!" Kenji said.

"Yeah. Hey, 1,000 yen says that Minako's gonna win." Rio wagered.

"You're on, babe." Kenji said.

A catchy theme came over the speakers and Marie walked back on the stage.

"Welcome back everyone!" Marie waited for a moment for the crowd to cheer for a little bit. "Alright, our contestants are locked in a close battle. Who will come out on top? Are you ready?" The crowd roared in response.

"Alright. Minako, Zen, Alexander, and Lee. This is the final question. Whoever gets this right will earn 100 points and win the game. You ready?"

"YES!" They all yelled back.

"Here is the final question. They can never be seen, but are looked back on. They can never be caught, but always remembered. Whether fond or bitter, you will always have what?"

As the contestants reached for their buzzers, a spark of realization lit up in Minako's eyes.

"Wait a minute..." Minako thought, "This is just like what Zen was talking about. He was right. This is fun. Everyone seems to be having fun. We are laughing and getting along tonight. I guess this just makes this another great…"

*buzz* "Minako! What is your answer?"

"They are memories!" She smiled brightly.

There was a pause. Everyone waited in anticipation. Suddenly, a bell rang through the auditorium.

"That is correct!" Teddie cried.

"AW HORSESHIT!" Kenji cried so loud, the entire audience went silent and looked at him.

"Cough it up, scarecrow." Rio said. Kenji sullenly fished out several yen notes.

"Ehem... that weird outburst aside, Ladies and gentlemen, your trivia champion! Minako Arisato!" Marie lead the applause as Minako danced in the rain of confetti that burst open. Though the crowd was going wild, the contestants, while applauding, had different opinions about what had happened.

"WHAT?! How could I have lost? I hit my buzzer first, I demand a redo!" Lee said enraged.

"*Sigh* Well, despite the outcome, I guess I had some fun… if only a little. Like I give a crap about a game..." Alexander asserted, trying to act cool.

"Way to go, Minako! I'll get you next time though!" Zen cheered.

"You wish!" Minako smiled playfully back.

Marie came up to Minako. "So Minako, how does it feel to win this competition?"

"It feels great. I hope everyone here had a good time!" Minako smiled, and looked at the crowd. The crowd cheered in response. "Awesome! Now, I'm going to go get me some victory Fruit Loops! Don't nobody disturb me or else I'll shove my fist up your asses!" Everyone laughed as Minako ran off stage, leaving Marie a little flustered.

"W-Well, I guess we'll give her the plaque later. But let's hear it for our other competitors!" The crowd applauded as Marie gestured to the now bowing Zen, Alexander, and Lee.

"This is a farce! I've been cheated! You won't get away with this, Minako! I declare a vendetta!" Lee raved as his Wardog Squadron quietly herded him outside to cool off.

"That's it for tonight! I hope you had a great time and we will see you around!"

Thus came to an end the IDF Trivia Competition. Despite the cleanup effort, which Mitsuru commanded that everyone besides Minako to help with, everyone left that night feeling good. Just as Zen had said, it was a step towards building a stronger IDF.


	11. Survey Corps

**A/N: Hey, people! I hope you enjoy this long chapter! Ad to those who ask, "Will there be personas?", I'm sorry, but since there's no more trigger (i.e. Izanami, Nyx, Death) Personas cannot materialize, but that's not to say there won't be any.**

 **Personas will NOT be present. For now.**

 **this is a LOOOONG chapter, harkening back to my Days of Summer days when I had over 4k words. Review!**

 **Read and review! Ad enjoy!**

Scouting along the dusty, war-torn land, Eren Yaeger stopped to get his bearings. He was above a hill, overlooking a ruined village, which seemed safe to stay. Marking the position on his map, he clambered down to the campsite, where he hooted three times.

"Who's there?!" A voice demanded.

"Its me." He said.

"Hurry up!" The voice said as he entered the hidden camp. Within the makeshift camp, was Mikasa Ackerman, Jean Kirstein, Krista Lenz and Sasha Blouse.

Mikasa slung her battered musket and sat by the fireside, "What did you find?"

"A village," Eren said as he laid out the map, "Just about north-east beyond the hill."

"Any signs of life?" Sasha asked as she prepared to cook a rabbit.

"None. Not even those Shadows." Eren said with disdain.

"No Shadows, eh." Jean remarked, "Did you see Armin and Connie? I'm pretty hungry, and with Potato Girl's appetite, we'd probably be eating ashes and charred meat... She's trying to mince the meat so it looks like there's not much, but she's not fooling anyone..."

"S-Shut up!" Sasha cried, "Don't call me that!"

"Tch... Potato Girl!" Jean muttered.

Eren snorted, and suppressed a laugh. Mikasa handed Eren a chocolate bar, but he declined and gave it to Krista, who was poking the fireside embers.

Just then, they heard a noise.

"Thunder!" Eren shouted, as the others readied their weapons, "Thunder, or we will open fire!"

"Lightning!" A voice from behind a wall cried, as Connie and a scout arrived, with full packs.

"Done foraging?" Eren asked.

"Yeah, Armin and the rest found a good haul." Connie said, "A convenience store along the road."

"Ran into a few Shadows, but nothin' we couldn't handle." Another scout said said carelessly.

"Guys, what did we talk about?" Eren groaned, "Don't attract unnecessary attention, and stay off the road! Who knows what could be watching?"

"We know, we know..." Connie said wearily, "Its just that we were really hungry."

"We're all hungry." Jean said, "But that shouldn't mean you should risk your lives for a few boxes of animal crackers-"

"I would." Sasha said quickly.

"-We need each other now more than ever, especially in this messed up world... That aside, we should eat." Eren said.

"Agreed." Jean nodded, "Anyway, where's Armin?"

"Armin and I split up along the hill. He should be making his way back here by now." Eren said, munching on a strip of beef jerky.

Just then a cry rang. The group looked outside to see Armin being pursued relentlessly by three Shadowmancers, corrupt Exiles who can call forth Shadows, who had been tracking them for days.

Cursing, Jean picked up a Hunting rifle and fired a warning shot. The three stopped and summoned several Shadows.

"Aw crap! Its those clowns again!" Jean cried. Sasha grabbed the gumbo pot lid. Jean checked the ammo, Krista and Armin hurriedly stuffed their belongings inside their bags, Mikasa readied herself and Sasha... Sasha quickly stuffed the food in her mouth for "safekeeping".

Eren unsheathed his double swords as the group fled. Connie turned around, slashed the nearest Shadows, and continued running. They had no horses here, but there were no Titans to outrun them. The other scout fell to a dart thrown at him.

"We need to regroup with Hanji-san and Levi-san's group!" Eren panted while they carried their supplies. They ran 500 meters from the Shadows, but they were still being followed.

"Jean?! Can't you shoot them, or something?!" Eren screamed.

Jean cocked his outlandish rifle he found while foraging. It had a shorter barrel, and a strange magazine underneath. He pulled the trigger, sent out a spray of bullets and was blown back by the recoil, but took out six Shadows, and wounded a Shadowmancer, forcing his companions to aid him.

They found their way across a narrow pass, where the Survey Corps had planned an expedition. They found an abandoned house underneath the shadow of the mountains.

"We should be safe here," Eren panted, "Sasha, Connie, Krista and Armin, look around for food. Jean, Mikasa and I will secure the place."

They went to it. Eren blocked the windows with a bookshelf, and Mikasa and Jean fixed up several holes in the wall.

Armin returned, "This place seems like a safehouse... There's food all in the cupboards. And the place is pretty secure... They even have hay in the garage..."

"And look up that hill by the river; Looks like some kind of castle." Jean said, "Must be locals there-"

"Look!" Connie suddenly cried and pointed through a crack in the wall. The group hurried toward him and peeped through the hole.

Outside, was a line of heavily armored Warriors, with shields and spears in the frontlines. Huge Katanas were slung at their backs. Behind them as a solid phalanx of Samurai-esque men, and behind the shield wall were archers with flaming arrows.

Then, a horn was sounded as a disorganized mob of Shadows trampled their way toward them. The archers fired a volley, killing several, but they still ran on. The vanguard valiantly charged as the apparent general, a blue haired boy with a bastard sword, deflected a blow with his spear, knocked a Shadow aside with his shield, hurled his spear at an oncoming Shadow, sliced through another's stomach and stabbed the next through the gut. The Shadows were like a giant wave that broke on a rocky shore of the vanguard.

Then, the general shouted at another soldier, who pulled out a gun and fired a green flare. A thundering from the distance was heard as a company of horsemen charged at the Shadows from the right and crushed them underhoof. The leader was a reckless red head, who seemed reckless, using a lance to impale the hapless Shadows who were caught in the crush. Her red hair flew with the wind as her companions fired their carbines at the Shadows, who retreated. Their Shadowmancers tried to escape, but were mowed down by Marksmen riding All-Terrain Vehicles..

"Amazing..." Krista gasped, "Those guys were... I mean..."

"At least we know they're not mindless barbarians..." Jean muttered.

"Badass..." Connie said in admiration, "That was AWESOME!"

Too late to chide Connie, they group pulled him out of sight, but it was in vain.

"Over there!" Someone cried, pointing toward the derelict house they were hiding in. As if they knew exactly which house they were in, many managed to enter by the windows. They were probably scouts.

Unsheathing their blades, Eren, Mikasa, Jean, Connie and Armin took their positions. Sasha and Krista stood at the rear.

A thin scout raised his sword, "Shadowmancers... I've been waiting a long time for this..." He said and the rebels approached.

Eren engaged the smaller rebel and the rest jumped in. Mikasa stomped on two rebels, and parried blows with her swords, Connie savaged a rebel and Jean fired at a rebel with a shield.

A rebel looked at Sasha, who looked at her own dubiously crafted gumbo pot lid. The rebel advanced as she smacked him in the head, ducked under a sword blow, smacked another rebel in the head. Another stabbed, but Sasha weaved through it and brought the lid down on the rebel's skull and finally ended the assault by flinging the pot at Jean opponent like a frisbee, knocking the final rebel down. With several of their comrades down, the remaining were easily mopped up.

"What the fuck...?" Jean muttered in shock.

"Damn Sasha... That was tight." Connie breathed, "I will never diss kitchen wares again..."

"You bet. I'm wondering what a frying pan would do..." Sasha said.

Then, a horn was blown and several voices from outside shouted and gave orders.

"Time to go-" Eren said as he stood up, but several men stormed the place. Eren drew his blade again, as everyone else stood behind Mikasa, Jean and Eren, who aimed at the intruders with their guns.

"Don't be stupid now." A heavily armored rebel said, as they took cover, "We outnumber you three-to-one. You're outgunned, outmatched and outnumbered. And those guys you knocked out were just scouts. Care to try your luck with us?"

The leader stepped in. He was blue haired. Accompanying him was a guy who looked like Connie's older brother, with a goatee and a fiery haired woman with fierce red eyes.

Opposing the heavily armed men were 6 starving, exhausted survivors, who had three battered and worn assault rifles, one revolver, a sling, three knives and a very formidable gumbo pot lid. The very thought of putting a fight seemed beyond insanity. Eren gripped his sword tighter.

"If you want to make this fun," The red head said neutrally, pulling out his sword slightly, "Make a move."

After a tense standoff, Eren slowly laid down his sword and sat down. The others followed.

"Minako, go bind them." The leader said, "Junpei take their stuff. If they resist, knock them out."

"Alright, whatever you say man." The scrawny rebel named Kenji said and waved for a few rebels to bind them.

Eren looked forlornly at the soldier confiscating his 3DMG, "If you even scratch that, I swear I will end you."

"Tough words coming from a weaponless dog!" The soldier spat, and smacked Eren in the head.

Jean kept shifting and shuffling.

"Don't move now. I don't want to be disemboweling people right before dinner... Makes me lose my appetite." Minako said.

Suddenly, Jean whipped a switchblade and slashed at Minako. It cut her deeply below the left eye, right into her cheek.

"Ow! What the fuck!" Minako hissed, "You little shit!" She hissed and kicked Jean in the groin.

"Ohhhhh!" Jan winced in pain.

"Next move, and this switchblade will be the next to touch you there. Understand?!"

"...yeah." Jean huffed.

"Serves you right, asshole." Eren sighed.

Immediately after, the rebels placed black sacks over their heads and threw them inside a cart. They then waited for an hour and a half, in a road with winding and rocky roads, which bruised them painfully, until they stopped and heard the creaking of a massive door.

"We're here, vagabonds," Kenji said beside them as he took off their covers, "The Special Administrative Zone for Exiles."

The group looked in awe at a castle, enclosed with a massive wall. They could hardly believe their eyes.

"City for Exiles?" Eren said in wonder, "I thought all the cities inside the Desolation were overrun and wiped out?"

"Not all." Kenji said, "Take it from me, those Shadows tried their best. Luckily, we had the Exiles to help us."

"Exiles...?" Eren wondered aloud. Technically, they WERE Exiles, but the term somehow didn't feel appropriate. And to his understanding, Exiles and Landers had always been at war, yet now they seemed to work hand-in-hand against the Shadows. Their reports of the IDF were wrong. They weren't conquerors, they were unifiers.

As they were carted into the town square, several hecklers shouted abuse and threats at the prisoners, mistaking them for Shadowmancers, and hurled objects at them.

"Hey, watch it you little punk!" Jean spat when a little kid threw a rotten tomato at him, "Kenji! Are you guys going to resettle us here?"

"Well, normally, you would, but since you were caught trespassing, stealing our supplies and assaulting an IDF Officer-" he looked pointedly at Jean, "You'll all be tried as criminals, probably get executed and have your bodies dumped into the Iwatodai River for the fish to eat."

"That's terrible!" Armin cried.

"Yeah, I know."

They were taken into a hill with a colossal square building. Inside, was a round council room, where it was as bright as morning, even though it was night outside. Arranged around a massive table with the map of the Shadowlands and Iwatodai, every city, every state, etched on the petrified wood. They were met by seven imposing leaders, which included the ones who captured them.

"Who are these people?" The older red head asked.

"Spies, Lady Kirijo." A rebel cried, "We found them lurking up a safehouse, which they busted in."

"Spies?!" Jean hissed, "Look here, asshole..."

"Well, if you are not spies, then who are you?" Kirijo asked coldly

The Survey Corps remained silent.

"What are you, if not Spies?" Kirijo mused, staring at each and every one of them hard and carefully, "Hm? Dark Exiles? You seem too well dressed and well mannered to be. Stormdrums? Frostfoots? Bloodborn? What Exile tribe did you come from?"

They remained quiet.

"Refusing to speak? Execute them." She said without hesitation.

"Yes, milady."

As they were being led away, Eren broke free, "This is bullshit! I demand to see who is in charge here!" He cried.

"I'm in charge." Kirijo said, "And the sentence has been passed."

"If you could be so bold enough to pass such a harsh sentence so easily, I dare you to swing the blade yourself!" Eren cried mockingly, "We'll declare you cowards if not."

"Hey, speak for yourself Eren! Unlike you, the rest of us aren't suicidal bastards!" Jean hissed.

She smirked, "... Fetch me my blade."

"Heh!" Eren scoffed defiantly.

"Eren! Shut up!" Connie hissed.

"Would any of you care to join your friend?"

The entire party shook their heads.

"Is this how justice is meted out here? I thought this place was civilized, but you're no better than the Shadows that plague this land!" Eren cried passionately.

The entire crowd outside roared with anger, demanding their immediate execution as spies.

"I personally thought they touched a rather important issue about our justice system." Fuuka squeaked to a man standing beside her.

"I beg to differ." A blonde grizzled drill instructor grunted as he threw tomato at Sasha, who hungrily ate it.

"Fuuka-san is right!" Minako cried, "This is injustice. They at least deserve the right to plead their case. If executing them without trial is our vision of peace and harmony, then I won't have any part in it. Except that bastard who gave me this beauty scar. He can hang."

The crowd roared, making Jean nervous.

Mitsuru mused, "Very well... Plead your case, then." She said as she continued swishing her blade around.

"Okay. We're from the Survey Corps-" Eren began.

"What exactly were you 'surveying'?" The blue haired leader, Minato, said.

Eren perked up and kept quiet.

Armin stepped in front, "O wise Leaders!" He implored, "Is it a crime to be lost in a desolate wasteland, to yearn for food and for water and to be trapped between the overwhelming might of the Shadows and the Insurgency?" He cried dramatically.

"Defence Force." The younger redhead corrected irritably.

Lady Kirijo nodded, and pointed her blade at Armin, "It IS a crime to enter our territory without consent. Do remember you're trampling on our lands, where you undoubtedly troubled our people by thieving from our safe houses, waylaying our scouts and spying on our lands. Also you managed to rile up the Shadows with your racket. After all the trouble and grief you caused us, we have the right to know what it is you're doing here."

"What else is there to know? We were hungry. We were lost. We were being followed by Shadows. What more do you people want to know?!" Jean spat venomously.

The tall man with a buzz cut laughed. The grizzled blonde drill instructor, Lee, said, "Yeah... I know you guys aren't skilled as we are when it comes to Shadows, but what kind of numbskull would light a fire on top of a hill with a bunch of supernatural hunting machines at their tail?"

Everyone in the group looked at Sasha, who whistled innocently.

"We've dealt with these things before!" Eren insisted.

"Yeah, right, and my mother's a werewolf." The blonde drill instructor laughed.

"I can prove it!" Eren cried, biting his hand so hard that he drew blood. To Eren's dismay, nothing happened. He bit his hand harder, tears rolling down his cheek as his teeth bit into his muscles and into his bone.

"This is weirding me out..." Minako whispered.

"Me too. Maybe he's got a mental condition?" Minato whispered back

"Disarmed, eh?" The redheaded lady shook her head at a guard, "Take these people and lock them away in the Soundless Hall until we decide what to do with them..."

The group were then taken to the cellars and into a dark, dank dungeon where it smelled wet, dusty and very earthy. The stairwell that led to it wound down several meters below the surface. They were finally led to a dark cell and thrown in.

"Hey! This isn't a Hall! It's a JAIL!" Jean shouted and kicked the door, "Of all the things that can happen, we get captured by the enemy! This is so embarrassing!"

"Jean, calm down." Eren said, "Nothing we can do now but wait."

"Wait?!" Jean fumed, "That's what THAT guy did, and look at him now!" He hissed, pointing at a skeleton on the opposite cell.

"If we're gonna die, then so be it..." Krista said bravely, "But I want to die young and beautiful, not trapped here in this dirty, wet hole!"

"Me too..." Sasha nodded, "I don't want to decay like that corpse next to Jean and Eren..."

"CORPSE?!" Eren and Jean jumped in shock and backed away from the body next to them.

"Heh, I bet they locked him and his buddy across the cell for stealing a mouthful of bread." Armin giggled.

"Armin! This is serious!" Sasha cried, "No time for books!"

"Sorry, sorry..." Armin said sheepishly, "Just that his story gets me."

"We have to get out of here!" Connie cried.

"Let me figure something out..." Armin said.

After discussing the details of his plan to the rest, Armin rubbed his hands.

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

"Hey guard!" Connie shouted, "Come over here quick. I need to 'squeeze the lemon'."

The guard stopped playing solitaire to come over the cell, "What?"

"You heard me... I need to 'squeeze the lemon'." Connie said.

The guard raised an eyebrow, "So? Go piss in the latrine bucket."

"I can't do it in here, I'm shy." Conmie said, "That guy over there might look." He said, pointing to Jean.

The guard nodded, "Yeah, that's one beefcake I wouldn't want to piss right next to at the urinals... But you've gotta think I was born yesterday to believe that I'd fall for that."

As the guard turned, Connie grabbed him and pulled him into the bars of the cell, knocking him out. He quickly searched for the key and opened the door.

"Let's get out of here!" Mikasa cried, "We have to move now!" Chie hissed and they ran on. Suddenly, a guard saw them as they made their way down the dark passage.

"Freeze!" A guard cried. Yu and everyone stopped dead in their tracks. It was a lone sentry, holding a rifle.

Mikasa dashed toward him, disarmed him and pushed him to a wall.

"How do we escape from here?" She demanded.

"Go down the hall, turn to your left and follow the corridor. Ignore the first five turns, and turn to the sixth crossing to your right. You'll see a stairwell." He said.

Mikasa knocked him out with her fist and tossed him to the jail.

The Survey Corps members ran across halls after halls, until opened a door. Captain Levi was already there and had already knocked out the Guards with The Special Operation Squad, armed with bows and arrows.

"Sigh... Weren't you idiots told not to go beyond the mountains? Commander Erwin was still planning this expedition." Levi sighed in annoyance.

"Sorry, Captain," Eren said.

"Whatever. Let's get out of here. Gunther, the weapons!" Levi commanded.

Gunther grunted and tossed a bundle of weapons at Eren and Company. They seemed unfamiliar with the single-edged longswords given to them. They were significantly heavier than their usual Double Blades, yet they were sturdy and had a keen edge.

"What are these?" Jean said in wonder, touching the blade and recoiling his hand after testing the sharpness.

"This is a little heavy... And pretty long..." Sasha gasped.

"Ah, a katana..." Armin mused with delight.

"Eh... Ka-what?" Connie said.

"A Katana; a long, single-edged blade used by the Japanese Samurai." Armin said with delight.

"In English!" Jean rolled his eyes.

"The special blades that the Orientals of this land use. It can cut straight through bone..." Armin said.

Mikasa looked at her own Katana with a newfound wonder.

"Alright, enough with the history lesson, let's get the hell out of here." Levi said.

"Roger!" They said in unison.

Levi nodded as he led the way through the hall, until they reached a stair. They climbed the stairs, which spanned for several hundred meters up until they saw light.

Tired and exhausted, they rested a bit but two guards strolled through and looked at the Survey Corpsmen in shock before raising the alarm.

Mikasa rolled forward and did a leg-sweep, knocking the first Guard out. The second Guard tried to slash her, but Mikasa jumped and kneed him in the face, knocking him out.

Unfortunately, the other guards heard the scuffle and began firing at them with guns. The S.O.S. scattered along with the rest of the Survey Team and took cover. After waiting for the guards to reload, Oluo and Petra fired arrows at the Guards, taking out three.

"Get across the ramp!" Levi hissed, and used his 3DMG to scale the walls.

Petra and Oluo used their to get across, while Gunther and Eld stayed behind. Gunther crept behind a wall and fired an arrow, knocking a guard down. Connie, Sasha, Annie and Bertoltz ran through the ramp.

Petra and Oluo fired two more arrows, knocking down one and scattering the rest. This gave Eren, Mikasa, Jean, Sasha, Krista and Connie an opening to cross. Petra fired another arrow at the guards, but it was blocked by a Blue-Haired young man's shield.

"Minako!" He yelled and a Red-Haired young woman used his shield as a platform, which he swung his shield, propelling the woman into the air as she leapt through the space and into the Archers.

Despite being master Titan slayers, the two met their match as the woman, wielding a spiked lance, parried every blow from their double-blades and attacked with savagery. She managed to disarm Oluo and duelled with Petra.

Gunther and Eld unsheathed their blades and used their 3DMG to quickly cross the span to aid their team mates, but the Blue Haired young man blocked their swords with his shield and raised his sword, emitting a harsh ray of light that dazzled the duo.

They were quickly knocked down and disarmed.

Levi grunted in annoyance and scaled down to help. He spun around and targeted the wild Red-head, but the young man blocked his blades with his own, causing Levi's blade to shatter. Levi was down, and the Redhead pointed her lance at him.

"Thanks." The Redhead said to the Bluehead, "But I could've handled it."

"Oh, sure..." The Bluehead rolled his eyes.

Several guards passed by them.

"Holy shit! IDF Guards! We gotta get the fuck outta here!" Minako cried.

"WE'RE IDF." Minato said.

"Oh, right... still! We have to get the rest of those guys!" The Redhead hissed.

"I think we already did." The Bluehead said smugly, jutting his chin at the gates.

Eren and Co. ran ahead, but they were surrounded them from the entrance. Thinking of going back was futile, as they saw torches below coming up. They were trapped.

They were led back to the council room, where the seven leaders, still in their sleeping clothes, looked at the group with bleary eyes and annoyed expressions.

Levi did not stop glaring at the new recruits.

"Dudes... Couldn't you have at least tried escaping on the morning?" The Connie's "Older brother" from earlier yawned, "I was just enjoying my sleep."

"As were we, Iori." Kirijo said crankily, "For trying to escape, assaulting our guards and disrupting the solemn peace of night, you will be executed tomorrow at the first light-"

"Wait! We wish to confess!" Eren blurted out, to the surprise of his friends.

Kirijo looked intrigued, "Takeba, what are the charges?"

"Okay... Do you confess on, three times, ransacking our safe houses meant for our own starving warriors on the road?" The brown haired archer, Takeba, demanded.

"We didn't-" Eren began, but suddenly remembered the big haversack of supplies they took, "Look, its all a big misunderstanding. We didn't mean to trespass on your territory or steal from your safehouses, but what choice did we have? We haven't eaten anything proper for weeks, and Shadows kept finding us wherever we go. And we're sorry for ransacking your safehouses. Nothing's missing, since you found us before we could. We'll fix anything we broke and we'll never speak of it again."

Lady Kirijo looked at Eren up and down, sizing him up, "Very well. You proved your worth... I shall take you up on that. You will not be executed."

"Thank god!" Jean sighed in relief.

"However..." Lady Kirijo said, "You have seen our base of operations. To simply allow you to waltz out all the way to Timbuktu and yonder, waiting to be captured by the Shadows, would be an obvious breach of security. So I'll present you with an option... Walk free, and we'll give you a day's start before we hunt you down and slaughter you like dogs, or stay here and serve our Defense Force."

Levi looked at his companions. They were in an agreement, "We accept your offer of staying. But we must speak to our Commander about it."

Kirijo thought for a while, "Fine. Bring your Commander here for a talk. I will allow only three of you to walk free. If the Commander is not here by the first light of the next day-" she dragged her index finger across her neck, "Am I clear?"

"Yes." Levi nodded.

"Do remember," Kirijo said, "We will not waste any bullets. A length of rope will do just fine." Kirijo said.

Levi, Petra and Olou left using their gear. Meanwhile, the rest were placed in a much nicer holding cell, with lots of light. Hours later, Levi and Commander Erwin. Mitsuru met him up on her Office, along with Akihiko and Zen.

"Greetings. I am Directress Kirijo. This is my Adjutant, Akihiko and Captain Zen Stryker, of the Guard." Mitsuru said.

"I am Commander Erwin, and this is Captain Levi, of the Survey Corps. My rank should suffice." Erwin said.

"Have a seat." Mitsuru said.

"Thank you." Erwin and Levi sat down, "Would you like to claim aggrieved status?"

"Yes, I would." Mitsuru said, "Now, Commander, I know your men have been spying on our lands and raiding our supply lines. You also have in your possessions certain supplies, plans and personal letters of IDF Corpsmen. I request you return the things you have taken from our caravans as a token of goodwill."

"I will return them immediately." Commander Erwin said.

"Thank you. Now, onto the case of specific targeting of our outposts to the group... Commander, you must know, our outposts are vital in keeping the land secure. Patrols keep the public order in check, and if necessary, to protect the Exiles we swore to defend in exchange for their loyalty. These outposts also contain Exile people, trading and seeking protection, some of whom are women and children, who mustn't be accorded inappropriate levels of hostility."

Commander Erwin seemed confused, "I'm sorry, but we have no involvement with that issue. Our scouts and men have orders to stay away from settlements and outposts."

"Well, if you have any idea who did it, we would appreciate it." Mitsuru said.

Commander Erwin scratched his chin, "Could be roving bands of Exile bandits looking for loot?"

"Our outposts are quite secure." Mitsuru said confidently.

"It could be the Targryns." Captain Levi, who had been silent throughout the exchange, said quietly.

"Targryns... No... They're too far north." Commander Erwin dismissed.

"Who are these Targryns?" Akihiko said, "I've never heard of them."

"Nor I." Mitsuru said.

"I doubt you would have heard anything. The Targryns are a family of Exile Nobility. Conquerors." Levi said, "From our reports, whenever the Shadows invaded, they were always there to enlist or enslave the people who resisted. Reason you never heard of them is because the people who HAVE heard of them were never heard from again."

"They appeared in the far north, way beyond the Haunted Marshes." Commander Erwin said.

Mitsuru turned to Zen, "Stryker, have you known about this?"

Zen seemed perturbed, "I've only heard whispers, Directress." He said, "These Targryns are near-mythical. I thought it was just a rumor so that we wouldn't stray north."

"That's not all, I'm afraid." Commander Erwin said, "Our scouts have reported them amassing an army, but that report was a week ago."

"An army?" Mitsuru said in shock, "Are you certain they're hostile?"

"Yes, we're sure." Levi reassured, "These Exiles are fanatical to their Lords, and are allied with a Shadow Priest."

"And you?" Akihiko said, "Are you friend or foe?"

Commander Erwin stood up, "Against the Shadows? We're your friends."

"There are no finer recon unit than the Survey Corps." Levi said.

Mitsuru nodded, "Will you pledge yourself to the IDF? In exchange, you will be given a Headquarters at the Shadowfort, as well as retaining your ranks."

"We graciously accept." Commander Erwin shook Mitsuru's hand. As they left, Mitsuru plotted her course of action. When she was ready, she called her Officers to briefing.


	12. Battle of the Plains

After an intensive recon and intelligence gathering mission, the Survey Corps reported that the massive Targryn Army would arrive in two weeks.

Unfortunately, Targryns arrived a week earlier.

Scrambling the immediate Garrison, Minato rode a grey stallion, alongside Minako, Mitsuru, Junpei and the rest of the Officers. Lee and Quan rode an ATV. Within an hour and a half, they mustered the men.

Minato surveyed the maniples of IDF soldiers in their gleaming armor, and honed weapons. Each IDF soldier was equipped with excellent weapons and armor. A lightweight plate armor, with boiled leather jerkin underneath protected their torso and shoulders, gorgets for their throats, while a chainmail skirt protected legs from slashing wounds. Their shins were fitted with greaves and steel-toed boots, both studded with hobnails. Their sword-arms were protected by steel armguards, which ended with leather vambraces on both forearms.

Each soldier carried a standard IDF shield, and were armed with spears. As their secondary weapon, the IDF soldier had a 3 ft long sword, a dagger and a revolver. On their heads were black composite helmets taped with their unit number.

Lee's 20 man team consisted of the Wardogs, led by Lee, and Quan's men, led by Quan. They all were armed with AR-15s and wore light composite armor, and rode 10 ATVs, with 2 riders each.

The lancers were led by Minako, assisted by Bebe. They were lightly armored, and wielded long spears. Their horses wore only their saddles. They numbered 50

Their numbers amounted to nearly 1,500 infantry, 70 mounted, ready to fight. And the rest of 3,000 men would stay while they prepare the defenses.

"Look at some of these men." Minato whispered to Minako, "Some of them look too young."

"They're fit and ready for service." Minako insisted, "Not much younger than you and I when we first fought against them."

Kenji, dressed in IDF-blue heavy armor, ran up to Minato. "Minato! It's the Survey Corps!" Kenji cried.

Connie Springer, exhausted, swooped down, "The Targyrns are marching an army towards the Shadowfort. They've burned several villages on their way down."

"Did the Exile Elders rallied?" Minato asked.

"Most of the Elders will not commit open battle against the Targyrn Army," Eren said, "But the word has spread, and several Exiles are coming down on their own, rallying at the Shadowfort.."

Minato nodded, then at Lee, who shouted, "MOVE OUT!"

After an hour and a half of marching, they reached the Shadowfort. There, Alexander's men, as well as several Shadowfort Exiles, and Landers, led by Maj. Omura, met the main IDF Army.

"Hail, Son of Makoto." Alexander saluted. He was dressed in the dragonbone armor he claimed at Sibyllus, as well as his burning gauntlets. Tank wore an armor three times thicker than the usual IDF heavy armor, and wielded a greatsword twice as long and heavy than the usual. Krusty wore blood red armor, and wielded a battle axe. Talon, though lightly armored in gilded chainmail, had two honed katars at the ready. Omura himself wore a lacquered blue armor, with the IDF sigil at his chest. Behind him was his retinue of burly Landers.

"Hail. How many men joined up?" Minato asked.

"About 2,500 including us." Alexander said.

"They're rabble." Omura spat, "Not much use, other than cannon fodder."

"I hate to admit it, but I have to agree with Maj. Omura, I'm not sure these men are the warrior type." Zen said, after noticing an Exile volunteer play with his belly button.

"They're ill equipped, granted, but most of these are refugees out for blood. I've supplied them with light armor and weaponry, though." Alexander said.

"That will do." Mitsuru nodded, "Let's hope their spirit is enough." Mitsuru said. After resupplying and orienting the Shadowfort officers, they resumed their march.

As they traversed a mountain, they encountered the Westguard Navy, led by Yu, shadowing their flanks. From above, Minato saw the Survey Corps swinging from the mountains, reporting their findings via radio.

As they stopped by a clearing, Mitsuru called for a meeting.

"At most, our standing army ready to mobilize is at least 4,000 men, 70 mounted and 200 rangers and skirmishers. We cannot take the rest out of their garrisons and patrols without endangering their positions." Mitsuru said, "The reserve forces number about 10,000 strong. The recruits yet untested."

"You expect us to hold back their horde with just 4,000 men?" Minato scoffed.

"Not me. You." Mitsuru said.

"What, me?" Minato said in surprise.

"Yes, you. There's no finer commander I would trust." Mitsuru said.

"Mitsuru, they're not soldiers. Sure, we've won a few battles here and there, but a few months ago, these men and women were simple Exiles, trying to scratch a living off rocks, while the men we're fighting are veterans. We're better off letting them pass through."

"Yes, better off." Mitsuru agreed, "But our cause wouldn't. And besides, you should not underestimate their fighting spirit, those Exiles survived for a reason."

At length, Eren and Mikasa swung down in front of the Officers.

"It's official. We're outnumbered, at least 2 to 1." Eren said sullenly.

"How many mounted?"

"200, perhaps more."

Minato sighed, "And how many does this Targryn Dominion command?"

"10,000 infantry, 200 cavalry, and 50 skirmishers, as per the current report." Mikasa said.

Minato looked at the map. The exact position of the Targryn Dominion Army rested in a small rocky clearing, northeast of the Shadowfort.

Slowly, Minato's look of anxiety melted into sly connivance, "The Targryns will only want to move forward. We can use this relentless push against them..." He said as he planned their strategy.

As The War Council convened, the rocks shook, causing a small landslide of pebbles and small rocks.

"Aw, bug this situation, now we've got an earthquake!?" Minako complained.

"That's not an earthquake." Minato said and pointed. The Officers went out and saw several spears and flags appearing from the far side of a small mound of earth, combined with sound of clanking armor. An army, easily three times the size of their army, marched across the plain.

On the left side, several horsemen in black clothes rode alongside the black armored Exile Soldiers.

"Damn, that's a lot of Targryn Men..." An IDF Soldier muttered.

"Some of them ain't Targyrn Men..." Another replied, "All I see are slaves."

To Minato's shock, there were several there, marching along the Targryn Army. He scoffed. The Targryn Dominion has enslaved hundreds of worlds to levy troops from. Some willing, some... turned to slaves.

They were arranged in triple lines, each line being twenty men deep. Due to some divine intervention or hubris, the Targryn Army's line was the same length as the IDF Army. Their steps thundered across the valley.

Minato knew they were outnumbered. Although IDF held the advantage of tactical, technological, logistical and financial superiority, they were lacking in numbers. However, their men were expertly trained, drilled, armed and were backed by the indomitable will of their Officers.

Three distinct figures rode ahead. Two of them wore matching armor, one was female and the other a male. The Herald rode forward with two flags on a single pole, one white, the other an ashy grey wolf, on a brown field, for formal parley.

"I got this guy." Zen said, unsheathing his sword.

"Stay that sword, Captain." Mitsuru commanded, "He wants formal parley."

Minato, Mitsuru and Akihiko met with the Ash Twins in grey armor.

"Arisato, Kirijo, Sanada." Their herald cried.

The smoky-grey haired male twin looked at them, "Assahani wo Nipon?"

Minato scratched his head.

"We can speak both." His twin sister said, "I am Ashara Targyrn. This is my brother, Asher."

"Eh... Good day for the crows." Asher said, looking at the ravens circling the field.

"Here are our terms: Lead your army off the field, and we will grant you lands and estates in the Ashvale, including a hereditary title, from which you will pay an annual tax to our Lord Father, Ashwyn Targyrn."

"Here are OUR terms." Mitsuru said, "Remove your army from our lands, lower your flags, and march straight back to your capital, and tell your Lord Father that you shall never set foot in IDF Territory again. Do that, and you and your men will live. Do it not, and each and every one of you will die today."

The Twins looked at each other. Asher suddenly laughed hysterically.

Ashara merely shook her head, trying not to laugh, "You are outmatched, outnumbered. You have no heavy cavalry. 89 civilizations fell under our rule, unopposed-"

"We're not finished." Mitsuru said, "You must repay the villagers for what you stole, and rebuild their villages."

Asher tightened his lips, and reigned his horse back toward his army. Ashara sighed, and said, "Such a pity." Before wheeling around. Their herald followed.

Minato breathed deeply before returning to his men.

"To your posts!" Minato cried, "Akihiko, Mitsuru, you and your fighters will command the center, alongside the main body of the Exile Volunteers. Rio, AlexanderJunpei, to the right wing. Kenji, Kaz, Zen, to the left. Hayase, Yukari, you two will screen the front of the army, draw them in. Omura, you command the reserves. Minako, you and your lancers have your orders, Lee as well. Move!"

"My place is with Lady Kirijo!" Zen cried.

"Go!" Mitsuru commanded, "I'll be fine. I've fought worse."

Zen reluctantly left her.

Minato tried his best to arrange the combined forces of the IDF. Though he was not a tactician like Mitsuru nor a warrior like Akihiko, he knew a thing or two about battle formations. He modelled it as a forward W-Formation.

Mitsuru, accompanied by Akihiko, held a strong, balanced center. The duo commanded their own units of rapier-wielding duellists and power-fist wearing pit fighters, augmented by the Exiles who joined them. Despite their command of Exile light infantry, their legendary reputations as remarkable leaders and Shadow-slayers inspired their men, who were eager to fight alongside them.

Kenji, Kaz and Zen commanded the left wing, the "shield" of the army, in a defensive position, holding shield screens and spears to counter the right offensive side of Targryn's massive army.

Rio, Alexander and Junpei commanded the heavy infantry, tough, hardened Deathseeker mercenaries and Castle Iwa men. They were all armed with heavy weapoms, the "iron fist" of the army to punch through the Targryn's defensive side. Minato joined Mitsuru and Akihiko's unit as the third unit commander.

Minako led a band of 50 mounted lancers with Bebe on the right while Lee and Quan rode in with a detachment of 20 ATV riders-in-tandem armed with bayonets, assault rifles and small arms.

As Minato's formation depended on the relentless forward push of the Shadow Army, he positioned his troops behind the sun, with the whipping winds blowing behind them, causing dust clouds to whip at the eyes of the Dark Exiles.

"Remember! This is IDF Territory. This is IDF Lands. This IS I.D.F.. And they're not welcome." Minato cried. The Army roared in open defiance of the Targryns.

Asher Targryn laughed at the relatively small army of the IDF.

"This is the army that dares stop our march? Ha!"

"Don't get cocky, Asher." Ashara warned.

"Come on, that last civilization had those super soldier Phoenixes that had over four times the number these people have and we beat them like a drum. There's no more than a few thousand there!" He laughed.

"Masters," the Herald said, "If I'm not mistaken, it seems that they have light troops forming their center, and heavy infantry at their flanks..."

"Well, that's interesting." Asher mused thoughtfully, "Our heavy troops will run their center to the ground, and swallow their tiny army whole."

"What are your commands, Masters?" Their herald asked.

"Send the entire army." Asher said arrogantly, "Full attack."

"Forward!" Their Herald cried. The thundering sound of marching rumbled the earth,

Taking a deep breath, Minato signaled to Yukari, "Send them a volley,"

Nodding, Yukari and Hayase lit their arrows and javelins, took aim and fired. Their squadrons followed their example. Several Targryn Levies fell to the ground, dead. Many more were set aflame, causing the ranks to loosen.

An arrow struck Asher harmlessly in his shoulders. Asher seethed, "Insolent bastard! I want that Arisato's head on a plate! I want you to take out their cavalry and mechanized infantry first. Let's see if those skirmishers will keep on firing without any support!"

"Yes." Ashara said. She gave the signal as their mounted troops charged.

"Ride!" Minato cried at Minako and Lee. The two squads then fled from the field.

Minako and Lee quicky charged at the Targryn's Army.

"They're going to take our army with 70 men!?" Asher cried.

As planned, Minako and Lee charged at the Targryn's missile units, completely routing them. And as expected, the Cavalry ignored the IDF skirmishers completely and followed Minako and Lee, who split up. The Targryn Horsemen split off as well to pursue them.

"See? Every one with a horse and those mechanized carts are fleeing." Asher scoffed.

"They just took out all of our missile units, you fool!" Ashara cried.

"And we took out their cavalry. Once we chase them off field, they will flee before our cavalry." Asher said smugly.

A few minutes later, the Targryn's Army reformed and marched.

Minato held steady the IDF Army, allowing Yukari and Hayase to skirmish and harass the Targryn's front line. The Targryn Commanders, still undaunted, continued their advance, despite several of their number falling down dead, until they suddenly, and inevitably, charged.

Minako and Bebe were being pursued by a hundred Targryn horsemen. Under Minato's orders, they were to be led astray, exhausting their horses, who were heavily a built and carrying armored men. Minako and Bebe wore leather armor, and their horses wore only their saddles.

"Minako-zama, Minako-zama!" Bebe cried over the din, "How long until we engage ze Dark Exiles?"

"Until they tire out!" Minako shouted over the howling wind. Every once in a while, they would turn around and hurl clubs, spears, darts, fire arrows and drop caltrops. Several were killed, injured and unhorsed, but it only slowed them down. Up ahead was the Iwatodai River. Minako decided to act fast.

Lee and Quan revved the engines and allowed the Shadow Cavalry to chase them. Though they succeeded in splitting the Targryn Army's cavalry in half, nearly 200 were chasing them, Lee was having fun. Quan drove the ATV into impassible terrain, while Lee peppered them with fire from his M4. His riders followed suit, waylaying the Shadows. Eventually leading them up a narrow pass in the hills, Lee gave the order to form up.

Riding around the riverbanks, Minako and Bebe dismounted with their 50 men. The Targryn Knights, despite losing a few of their men, still outnumbered the cavalry detachment of Minako and Bebe.

"What do we do?" Bebe said skittishly, holding a glaive, "We can't fight them."

"Oh, come on, Bebe... YOU WANT TO WIN THIS WAR?" Yosuke's voice asked.

"YOU TELL THAT TO THE MARINES!" Several hundred voices from the river shouted. The IDF Marines, led by Yu, Kanji, Yosuke, Chie and Naoto arrived in a dozen skiffs, with 10 men on each skiff.

The Targryn Knights, still arrogant, defiantly charged at the Marines, who immediately formed up by the water.

"Vat do we do?!" Bebe cried.

"We fight." Minako said, "Those Targryn Knights are tired, cut off, and now, surrounded. Time for a little payback!" Minako hissed and charged with Sanguine Rose. Bebe and the others followed suit, cutting up the numerically superior, but weaker Dark Exiles with relative ease.

The other half of the Targryn Knights turned and saw Lee and Quan's men forming a defensive barrier using the ATVs. His other men took up positions in the upper ridges, led by Nagase and Madlock. RJ, Geirin, Cipher and a few others held a wedge of bayonets behind the ATVs.

Not recognizing their automatic weapons, they all charged recklessly.

"Light em up, boys!" Lee cried as he, Quan, the Wardogs and the rest of the detachment opened fire on the Targryn Knights. Quan detonated several charges, leading to a rockslide and general pandemonium. The Knights, who had never seen automatic weapons, scattered. The Horses, who were unused to such frightening sounds, threw their riders and trampled them to death. The brave few who continued to charge were quickly speared and bayoneted to death by Lee's Wardogs.

"Wedge!" Lee cried, returning to his ATV. The Mounted Rangers formed a triangle. The Knights had just regrouped.

"Run them down!" Lee cried. The ATV's revved their engined and surged forward, crushing the Shadows beneath their treads. The survivors were finished off by running over them two or three times.

Back at the IDF Army...

Center...

Yukari's archers quickly went behind Minato's units.

"Take positions!" Yukari cried as the Targryn Army advanced, "Prepare to fire... NOW!"

Yukari's Rangers and Hayase's peltasts launched arrows and javelins, taking down waves after waves of Targryn Soldiers, but it wasn't enough to stymie their charge.

"Steady everyone!" Minato cried. The IDF Center braced themselves for the inevitable. As the Targryn Army crashed on them, they held their line bravely. Mitsuru's duellists shredded up the Shadows in front of them while Akihiko's men demolished the opposition on the left. Minato fought valiantly, even holding three men back at bay with his double swords.

"Hold the line!" Minato cried.

"We're buckling, Commander!" An IDF Soldier cried.

"Bend if you must, but DO NOT BREAK. Hold the line until reinforcements come!" Minato hissed.

IDF Left

Zen, Kenji and Kaz held out their pikes in a bristling wall five men deep. Yet, the Targryn's slave mentality made them more fearful of their Master's whip rather than the IDF Pikes. To Zen's horror, several impaled themselves on the pikes, breaking the pikeheads in an attempt to break the formation.

"Push them back!" Zen roared, as clouds of dust whipped past them and into the eyes of the Dark Exiles, "Don't let them gain a single inch! NOT ONE STEP BACK!"

"Aw, screw this, I'm not dying under the command of an Exile Scum!" A Shadowfort Lander cried as he retreated.

"All traitors will be shot!" Zen cried, shooting a warning shot at the deserting IDF Soldier, who stopped in his tracks, "This is your home! Don't expect others to defend it! Fight hard!"

Zen's actions actually caused his men to become inspired.

"This is actually pretty fun!" Kenji muttered to himself.

IDF Right

The unorthodox formation of the right wing favored offense. Alexander's men, Rio and Junpei fought with ferocity, actually endangering the entire plan, as the left Targryn wing threatened to retreat.

"Remember, the plan is to HOLD ther line, not break it." Rio shouted.

"Well, this is no fun at all." Alexander growled, fighting with a Targryn Officer, "Tank, take it easy!"

Tank caught a Targryn Officer, and ripped his head off with a single pull.

"There goes my lunch." Junpei said.

Krusty, who was completely lost in bloodlust, was biting at the handle of his own battle axe as he drowned in a bloodthirsty frenzy. Talon was assassinating Targryn Commanders left and right, causing confusion and panic in the leaderless left of the Dark Exiles.

IDF Center

Giving the signal, Minato sounded the horn and the center began to gradually fall back. As the Targryn Army's right and left wing broke their formation to chase the fleeing IDF Center as planned by Asher, the dust whipped up from the ground blew around their faces, slowing them down and blinding them as the IDF flank swung around to engulf them. As Mitsuru and Akihiko suddenly turned back to counter-charge, the tide began to turn in their favor. As the IDF bottled the Targryn Army in a tight vise that constricted their army as they IDF enveloped them, many of the Targryn Levies were unable to even lift their arms, allowing the IDFA to cut them down to a man. Suddenly, Minako's Lancers arrived, alongside the IDF Marines, and drove a wedge at the Targryn Army's rear, allowing the Marines to spill through and cut the panicking Targryn Army.

Asher looked in horror as the previously undefeated Northern Legion of the Targryn Dominion was being cut to pieces.

"Send the behemoth! Break the backs of those bastards!" Asher shouted to his Herald.

The Herald nodded, and waved his flag, "In the Name of Corvo!"

A portal of Darkness opened as a giant shadow in the shape of a bull appeared. The monster had boar tusks, a scorpion's tail, a lion's claws, and a grizzly mane. It roared with ferocity.

The Herald waved his staff. The Behemoth quickly did a charge, covering a wide area of land at a frightening pace. It knocked aside several IDF Soldiers, and gored five to death. It made two more charges, threatening to scatter the IDF Army. Minako's lancers attempted a countercharge, but were thrown aside with casualties.

At its fourth charge, Alexander and Tank used their inhuman powers of Dragon and Giant to hold the Behemoth down. Even still, it took all their strength to merely slow it down.

Lee's men arrived, looking at the carnage in horror.

"Dammit! That beast isn't going down! We have to do something!" Lee cried.

"Well, looks like I have no choice..." Quan sadly, "I have to make the ultimate sacrifice..."

"Are you planning to deliberately crash into the Behemoth!?" Lee cried, "Because I'm getting off this thing if you are."

"What? Hell no!" Quan cried, "The hell I'd do that for? I'm talking about this-" He proceeds to open the compartment of his ATV, and pulled out a Russian-made RPG-7.

"Holy slipper of Gandhi!" Lee cried in surprise, "Where the hell did you get that?!"

"I bought it from some Exile gypsies. I was planning to make it into a lamp in my room." Quan explained.

"You've got to be shitting me, man." Lee said breathlessly.

Quan turned to the Shadow, "Yeah, behemoth... You made a big mistake." Quan growled, and loaded the RPG. He then placed a boxing glove on the RPG Rocket-head.

"Hey, Quan, you son of a bitch, those are my Cleto Reyes Gloves! I bought that from Akihiko-" Lee tried protesting, but it was futile.

"Smile you son of a bi-" He hissed and fired the RPG.

"Noooooooooooo!" Lee cried slowly.

The rocket flew a hundred miles per hour, before finding its mark on the Behemoth's neck, snapping its spinal column and severing the spinal cord. It roared loudly, thrashed violently, and died.

The IDF, heartened by this, quickly destroyed the Targryn Remnants. Several were able to cut their way out and escaped.

Asher, with his arrogance dying in his lips, quietly wheeled his horse away as his Twin, the Herald and his retinue struggled to catch up.

As the dust cleared, Minato saw the bodies of the dead they left. Some were IDF, some were Marines, some were Exiles, some were Landers...

The IDF Army, although exhausted from their battle, were pleased with the outcome. As Minato raised his sword three times, the IDF Army cried in response. Victory was theirs


	13. Elections

Minato walked toward the council room, with Minako trailing behind. Inside, the Officers were sitting, speaking to each other. Officers from the Shadowfort and Westgard were present as well.

"It's quite crowded. You'd think it's chimichanga night..." Minako muttered.

"Minato is here now. We may begin." Mitsuru said.

"About time!" Alexander growled, "Minato! Sit your ass down so we can go home! I've got DVDs to watch! Bob Barker night, for fucks sake!"

"Hey, show some respect for the Commandant!" Zen warned.

"Respect? Here's my respect," Alexander raised his butt cheek and ripped out a fart to Zen's direction.

"That's disgusting!" Zen cried, covering his nose.

"Enough." Mitsuru said, "Have a seat."

Minato walked over to Junpei.

"Hey, Minato, I saved you a seat!" Junpei said.

"Thanks Junpei." Minato said.

"Thank you all for coming here today. If you are present, you're either a ranking officer or a noncommissioned officer of the IDF. However, I've called an emergency meeting in order for us to elect officers among officers. Now, leadership and a proper chain of command is important in all organized group, ours especially, since we seek to bring stability to these lands. Any questions?"

Lee raised a hand, "What positions are available?"

"Well, three positions have been taken, unanimously. I am the Directress of the Iwatodai Defence Force, and I choose Akihiko as my Sentinel, while Zen is Captain of the Honor Guard. The rest are Grand Masters, who will supervise all aspects of their respective base, which will shelter their troops in companies known as 'Chapters'. They will then choose the Sentinels, or High Captains and Champions or Captain of the Guard. Unanimously, Minato Arisato was chosen as the best and most obvious choice for the Grand Master of Castle Iwa Chapter, as well as Yu Narukami, who was chosen as Grand Master of Westguard by his peers."

Minato stood up, "As Grand Master of Castle Iwa, I thank you all for your confidence in me." Several officers pounded the table to show their support, "In my first act, I choose my Battle-Brother, Lee Aida of Kru to be my Sentinel for his tactical command and I choose Minako Arisato of Zeonia to be my Champion, for her deadly skill and instinct."

Lee, who was shocked at the gesture bowed respectfully, while Minako simply smiled and winked at Minato.

Many Officers, especially Lander purists such as Omura, were muttering amongst themselves at Minato's choices were Exile exclusive, especially his choice for Captain of the Guard was an Exile Woman, no less.

Yu stood up to dispel the tension, "Thank you for this honor, my fellow officers. Upon contemplation, I choose Naoto Shirogane as my Sentinel and Chie Satonaka as my Champion and Protector."

"Chie?" Yosuke cried.

"Yeah, Chie." Chie said.

"What about me?!" Yosuke cried.

"No disrespect, Senpai, but Chie-senpai created a move called "the Diarrhea Kick"."

"Holy crap! She developed a kick that'll send you to Brown Town?" Yosuke cried.

"Yeah."

"No objections." Yosuke said, sitting down.

"What about the Shadowfort?" Omura asked impatiently.

"We've casted the votes and counted them and we've reached a tie. Hideyoshi Omura and Alexander, son of Lysander."

Omura nodded, "I trust those with the highest votes will receive the honor of leading the chapter, and Grand Master?"

"That honor will be decided by the Officers." Mitsuru said sharply, "Before we begin the tie-breaker, would anyone like a word for each candidate before we begin?" Mitsuru said.

Omura nodded at one of his men, who stood up, "Hideyoshi Omura is not only a warrior, but a man of true nobility. His lineage traces back to the First Shogunate. He acted as Commander of the Satsuma Keep before the IDF was even founded."

"Hear!"

"He has been a stalwart defender of the Black Walls of the Shadowfort for nearly three years. His blood is pure, his heart is strong and his will is indomitable! He is the logical, nay, the ONLY choice!"

Several officers banged on the table to show their support.

Krusty looked around and stood up, "Alexander Dragonchild is NOT a man of virtue. He is cantankerous, foul and a black hearted rogue, who had reaved, raped and plundered the Shadowlands since before there was even a rift portal to the Shadowlands!"

Several murmured amongst themselves. Omura smirked proudly, yet Alexander seemed unperturbed.

"But!" Krusty said loudly, almost oratorically, causing the Officer's attention to focus solely on him, "PRINCE Alexander! Yes, Prince Alexander vi Draconis IV, is, or rather, was leading a revolution against the Targryn Dominion! For nearly 17 years since his 8th year, after the fall of his homeworld, Draco, from betrayers of his house to the Taryrn Dominion. He reformed the shattered remnants of the Dragon Army into the Deathseekers, furiously engaging the Targryns and his traitor-uncle's legions in glorious combat. It was he who commanded us at the Battle of Dovah, winning four decisive battles in one day! It was he who slew both Al Duin Targryn the World Eater, and his uncle, Cassander the Serpent, in single combat. It was he who resisted the temptations of the Void and led us out at the Ambush at Naath. Alexander is not a perfect man. He has been in and out of Darkness. But I believe the only man we can trust to lead us OUT of the darkness should be the one who has been to the Darkness itself. For a good man to lead, he must follow. And to follow the path of victory, a good man must lead." Krusty said, and sat down.

The officers were stunned silent at Krusty's oratory speech. At length, Omura stood up, and looked at all the officers in the eyes before beginning.

"I have no doubts about the valor of Alexander of Draco." Omura spoke, "But who does he command? The Shadowfort Chapter, or the Exiles of the Shadowlands? Everyone knows of his heritage, of his status and of his actions. You heard it from the mouth of his own lieutenant; they openly admitted having reaved, raped and plundered the Shadowlands. What would have happened had the IDF failed to neutralize him and his band of renegades? Who would you rather choose as Grand Master? A man who had spent years of faithfulness to the City of Iwatodai? Or a faithless brigand, who had been our enemy once?" Omura said, allowed his words to sink in, before sitting down.

Mitsuru nodded, apparently surprised at the word war happening, "Let the voting commence."

Two boxes were set up, one for Alexander and one for Omura. Each Officer was then given a token. After a few minutes of discussion, several officers stood up, and casted a token, some for Alexander and some for Omura. Finally, Zen counted the tokens. After the last coin was counted, he looked at Mitsuru with dismay, "Another tie."

"Is that so?" Mitsuru raised an eyebrow, and looked at Alexander, before flipping a token into Alexander's box.

The room exploded into cheers and congratulations. Omura reddened, before standing up, hesitantly bowing to his new Commanding Officer, "I pledge my loyalty to you forthwith, Grand Master." and storming off, his staff trying to catch up.

Still shocked that he won, Alexander immediately instated Krusty as his Sentinel and both Talon and Tank as his Aide-De-Camp.

The Chain of command had been firmly established. But the IDF has many enemies. With enemies, their chain may become fragile. When one chain breaks, the others will surely follow.

But which chain will break first?

 **A/N: Filler chapter, I know. I had to write that. Hahahaha. Oh, by the way, sorry for the delay. Life caught up, but I'm quite glad and pleased I finished this chapter. It's been a while, and I liked how this chapter ended, despite appearances, I completely just winged this one hahaha.**

 **By the way, thank you all for your patience and you'll review, or maybe not, as long as you enjoyed this chapter.**


	14. Westgard Story

**A:N: Sorry for the long delay. Busy.**

* * *

"If I knew I'd do THIS much digging, I'd have joined the IDF army!" A Marine lamented, as he continued digging.

The Westgard Marines were busy creating the earthworks for a dam. The Officers present were Grand Master Yu Narukami, Champion Chie Satonaka, 2nd Commander Yosuke and Lt. Kanji.

"Quit your bellyaching, Alexander's entrenching his men at the Shadowfort, they're digging over there too." Yosuke said, "Besides, we're halfway through."

The IDF Navy were constructing a dam, and corresponding sluice gates for several purposes:

First and foremost, to prevent flooding. The thousands of rivers that web across the Shadowlands all lead to two forks, which were east and west of the Shadow Mountains. Due to that, flash floods occur frequently. By bypassing the Western Fork entirely, the floods could be used to prevent enemies from sneaking through the river.

Second, for defense. Since the western fork was the largest compared to the shallow, treacherous and rocky eastern shore, it made more sense to reinforce that side, and leave the East shore to be guarded by the Castle Iwa garrison. An imposing dam guarded by the Navy would deter small time raiders, and make the Targryn Navy think twice before attacking head on.

Thirdly, for energy. The river flows with a strong current. Utilizing this would ensure a steady supply of electricity in the Iwatodai Delta, which housed the entirety of the IDF.

"When is this gonna finish?" Kanji panted, "This is a job for the builders."

"We're lacking manpower. They're finishing up the walls of Westgard." Yu explained.

"Well, at least we get to swim afterward." Yosuke said enthusiastically, "Can't swim at the wharf back at base. All that diesel in the water can't be good for you."

"Sigh... Seems like Minato and Alexander's crews are having all the fun. This place is so boring, they're cutting down the patrols just for us to be digging!" Chie cried.

A Marine hurried forward and bowed, "Grand Master! A Survey Scout wishes to speak to you."

"Oh, sure." Yu said.

The Marine ushered two small scouts, a blonde one and a bald one.

"Grand Master! I am Armin of the Survey Corps, and this is Connie Springer." The Blonde one said tersely.

"Hi." Yu said amiably, surprising the scouts, "What brings you here?"

"We're here to report a movement of several vessels, north of here." Armin explained, "It is headed by a massive ship, with a merlion on the prow."

"Are they hostile?" Yu asked.

"They don't seem to be. And even if they were, they don't appear to be combatant ships," Connie said, "At one point, they stopped and set up some kind of river-town. Never seen anything like it."

"A mobile river town, huh?" Yu said. To him, it seemed outlandish for a town to be on a river, but Yu had seen many things since his adventures began. And though the Fork (where the rivers split between the West Fork, in Westgard, and the East Fork, near Castle Iwa) was a bit bigger than the Samegawa River, the Exiles say the river is much more deeper, wider and gigantic, with clear, grey waters, upstream.

"Well, looks like we have some action." Yu said, "Chie, Yosuke, with me. Kanji, you stay here and supervise while I'm gone."

"Seriously?! Why does Yosuke get to go?!" Kanji cried.

"Because I'm older than you." Yosuke said simply.

"Aw, this sucks!" Kanji sighed, "Alright. Have a safe trip."

Yu, Chie and Yosuke, along with a retinue of 7 bodyguards, rode out on their fastest patrol ship, where the river-town was said to be.

A little while up, they encountered a fishing boat, which was paralyzed, having been rammed by another boat and was being boarded by a party of men.

On the sinking boat, fighting side-by-side, were a father and daughter duo. The girl who was rather short, who wore nothing more than fisherman's clothes, with a light jerkin jacket, held the Targryn Pirates back with a fishing harpoon, while her burly and muscled father swung a massive anchor threateningly.

"Partner, we should do something!" Yosuke whispered.

"You're right. Farkas, get us over there! We need to help them!" Yu said.

"Yes, Commander!" The bodyguard cried, steering to the sinking boat.

As the Westgard Officers moved to aid the beleaguered fishermen, two Targryn pirates charged at the burly fisherman, who swung his massive anchor at them, sending the first pirate flying out into the river, and crushing the other with a downward slam.

The daughter, though small, parried their strikes, and killing one by hurling it into his heart. She picked up another harpoon and held the others at bay.

"Reinforcements!" The Targryn Pirates cried, unaware that it was actually the IDF Marines.

The fisherman and his daughter didn't seem worried.

The Marines alighted by the Targryn's ship. The captain of the Targryn ship lowered the gangplank to allow the Marines to embark. Immediately, he and three of his men were struck down by javelins and darts.

"Charge!" Yu cried, unsheathing his sword.

The due were surprised at the intervention, and redoubled their efforts to purge the pirates from their ship. Yosuke and Chie, who were the fastest, ran across the enemy boat, and leapt into the fisherman's boat. Yu and the rest of the bodyguard fought the pirates.

"Took ye long enough!" The fisherman growled.

"Shut yer mouth, Pap! Er, thanks for the help, strangers!." The girl, who was around Chie's age, said as she smacked a pirate with her harpoon.

"No worries!" Chie said, kicking a pirate downstream, "My name is Chie!"

"Yosuke here." Yosuke said with a smile, using several flamboyant moves to knock down the pirates, as well as impress the girl.

"My name's Loon, an' this here is my Pappy, Lugg." She panted, sweeping her harpoon, knocking a man down the river with a scream.

"That's the last of them." Yosuke said, noticing the fight stopped. The seven bodyguards stood by the edge of the boat.

"Where's Narukami?" Chie said in horror, "Is he..dead!?"

"Still alive, High Captain." Farkas reassured, "The girl knocked him down the boat."

"Yeah, and it hurt, too." Yu groaned from below. After Lugg hauled him out with a hook, Yu had to wear Lugg's oversized jackets in order to prevent hyperthermia.

"Thanks fer savin' us." Lugg said.

"And I'm sorry for knocking yer ass outta the boat." Loon said.

"It's alright." Yu said.

"Grand Master! They can't operate a fishing boat in these parts! Where is your permit?" A Bodyguard demanded.

"Farkas, calm down." Chie chided, "What are you two doing here?"

The two looked at each other before answering, "Truth is... We're looking for help." Lugg said.

"Asher Targryn's sailing straight fer Driftwood." Loon said.

"Driftwood?"

"That'd be our home. A town of several boats joined together." Lugg said.

"He's sailin' with his raiders, along his sister, supposedly." Loon said, "So if you'd be so kind as to direct us to Westgard? S'pposedly they have a fleet that can send them Targs back to their hidey holes."

Yu nodded, "Farkas, get Kanji on the horn. Tell him to take the Dawn's Vengeance, along with the Kestrel and assemble a strike team at the rally point up at Driftmark."

"Yes sir!" Farkas said.

"And Farkas? Tell Kanji to bring a sweater. It's cold." Yu shivered.

"Very good, sir!"

Loon sighed, "Yer the IDF?"

"Yeah. Westgard Chapter." Yu said.

"You?" Lugg said in disbelief before laughing, "Yer them bad asses who done sent them Targryns back home crying for their Mamas?"

"Yeah, we are. Got a problem with that?" Chie challenged.

"Uh, no Ma'am." Lugg said in shame.

"Don't mind my Pap. He can be an idiot sometimes." Loon said, "Would you please follow our ship? We'll lead you to Driftwood. Our boss prolly wants to talk to ya."

Nodding, Yu and the Officers clambered back to their own ship, and followed Lugg's wake, snaking across the channels and canals before seeing a glitter in the distance. Loon pointed, and shouted something inaudible, but Yu didn't need a verbal confirmation to find out that he was looking at the river town of Driftwood. Seeing it up close was actually quite surreal. All boats surrounded eight large barges, which acted as a sort of "hub" where people meet, see their wares and fish. In the dead center of all those collections of boats was a mighty battleship, bigger than the Dawn's Vengeance, larger and apparently faster. It wasn't a battleship, but a floating fortress.

"This place is... something." Yu said.

"It's our lil slice-o-heaven." Lugg said with pride.

"What's that giant monster over there?" Yosuke said.

"That be the Rock. Flagship of Drift Fleet. Official Residence of the Lord Admiral of Driftwood." Loon explained in her distinct Driftwood drawl.

"Oh, can we stop by? I think I want to buy that funky hat over there!" Yosuke said.

"We are not on a shopping trip, Yosuke!" Chie said.

"I see some greaves too." Yu said.

"Well, maybe a few minutes won't hurt..." Chie relented.

"No time guys." Loon said, "The Boss doesn't like to be kept waiting, 'specially if Asher Targryn's comin' our way." Loon said.

After securing their boat in mooring, the three officers left the seven bodyguards to wander about while they meet with the Boss of Driftwood.

They climbed over several steps and stairs, before finally arriving at the bridge. There, they were greeted by an old woman sipping tea. By her side was a beautiful woman.

"Hiya Granboss, hiya Mom." Loon greeted, hugging both women. Lugg kissed the woman and sheepishly smiled at the old lady.

"What're ya grinning like a baboon for!?" The old woman snarled, "And who are these strangers? And why is one of them wearing your rags, Lugg?!"

"Ehem. Ladies and gennulmen, this here is Lord-Admiral Kaana, and Vice-Admiral Kya." Lugg said, then faced the Driftwood leaders, "Ladies, these here are the Officers of Westgard, Commander Yosuke, Cap'n Chie and Grand Mass'a Narukami."

"Pap 'n I ran into a Targryn patrol boat and we'd been goners if them Officers hadn't 'rrived. They smashed 'em easily, they did, an' this lady here kicked 'em so fast my head b'gan spinnin'..." Loon said excitedly.

"Now, now, Loon, you're beginning to rant." Kya chided gently, "I must thank you for saving my Daughter and Husband."

"Lugg is bumbling galoot, but one of our best boatmen." Kaana said.

"Don't mention it." Yu said, "We were on our way to see if you were hostile or not. Glad it isn't the former."

"Damn right." Kaana said, spitting out a wad of chewing tobacco, "Heard about the Targryns coming over?"

"Yes, by Lugg and Loon. I've already made plans. Here's what we do..."

A squadron of Targryn ships were spotted from the distance. Several armed men were seen forming up. Yu, on board the Dawn's Vengeance, gave orders for his men to ready up.

Sounding the fog horn, Dawn's Vengeance and the Kestrel moved in order to block the path. The Targryn ships fired three warning shots from their cannons, but were ignored. Fearing reprisals from the powerful IDF railguns, they refused to directly engage the two battleships, and instead came closer.

Yu and Yosuke were in the Dawn's Vengeance, while Naoto, Kanji and Chie were onboard the Kestrel. The flagship of the Targryn Squadron stopped in front of the blockade. Two twins, the Ash twins, Asher and Ashara, came out and confronted the IDF Marines.

"IDF Ships blocking our path, this is your final warning!" The Targryn intercom cried, "Let us through, or we shall blow you out of the water with our bombards!"

"These waters are under the protection of the Westgard Marines." Yu said via intercom, "Leave now, or we will be forced to action."

"We're not after your piss-waters." Ashara said quietly, "We're after the fugitives who trespassed our lands. You may know them by the bilge-town they reside in, Driftwood."

"They're under our protection." Naoto said, "You have no business here. Turn your ships, and get out of our "

Asher smiled, and nodded at the helmsman. The forward facing bombards of the Targryn ships fired a volley of shots, hitting the Dawn's Vengeance's broadside. Another volley ripped into the Kestrel's hull, but not damaging it significantly.

"Reload!" Ashara cried.

"Not today!" Yu cried, "Fire harpoons!"

Several ramshackle harpoon mounted into the Dawn's Vengeance and Kestrel by the Driftwood fishermen fired into the sides of the Targryn flagship.

"Pull!"

The machines mounted into the harpoon launchers were designed to haul in monstrous whales from the Shadowlands, and were a match for the flagship. It pulled the dark grey flagship, ripping it from the waters and directly into the IDF ramps, which dropped into the ship.

"Prepare to board!" Yu cried. The IDF Marines ran forward, throwing their javelins before closing in with shortswords. Several Targryn Marines were struck down, but Ashara casted a Shadow barrier that blocked a dozen javelins that would have hit them.

"Lanza! Return volley!" Asher cried. A Targryn Officer signalled his men, who shot a volley of crossbow bolts at the advancing marines. Several were shot, and fell into the murky river, while other continued to advance.

Suddenly, several grappling hooks shot into the sky and were hooked into the opposite side of the ship. Moments later, a warband of Driftwood men, led by Lugg, joined the fray, surrounding the Targryn men.

"Scuttle the ship! Leave nothing for these scum!" Asher cried. Then, a blast was heard, and the ship began keeling over.

Asher tried cutting his way out, holding the line while his men tried to evacuate. Noticing this, Yu joined the fight. He took down several of the remaining marines, and saw Asher Targryn. Picking up a javelin, he struck a blow into the Ash Prince's shoulderplate, but it bounced harmlessly aside.

Noticing this, he cried in common tongue, "You! What's your name?!" Asher demanded.

"Narukami Yu. And yourself?" Yu said.

"Asher Targryn. Your aim is shit! And for that, I'm going to kill you!" Asher cried, charging at him.

Yu held a katana, unlike his fellow Marines, seemed to be an officer. His sinister-looking sword unnerved Asher for some reason, but he kept his resolve. Asher danced a frenzy of slashes and strikes, which Yu tried deflecting. A slash nicked Yu in the cheek, but he kept weaving in and out of his strikes. A slight misstep on Asher's part nearly cost him his life.

Yu, noticing this, unsheathed his katana with a fluid motion, striking Asher in the chest with enough force to stop his breathing for a moment. Yu might have decapitated Asher with another stroke had Asher not tripped backward and fallen into the murky river.

Yu tried grabbing Asher, but he immediately sank to the bottom. Suddenly, he was thrown violently from the boat, falling into the river. The Ash Princess, Ashara, had thrown him from the boat. She then willed a Shadow Hand to lift Asher from the river, and dropped him into the deck of the second ship, where they retreated.

"Why do I keep going for a swim...?" Yu groaned. The sound of celebrations drowned out Yu's concerns. After that battle, Kaana pledged that Driftwood and the IDF would be eternal friends for their assistance. Interestingly, she did not pledge her loyalty, saying that the rivers of the Shadowland is their mother, and they will not heed the call of the lands beyond it. However, she did send several young men and women, including Lugg and Loon, as pledges for the IDF Westgard Marines.

 **A/N: Long chapter. I didn't mean for an entire Westgard Chapter, but seeing as how they've been left out, I thought it was high time they get a highlight. And for those of you asking, the next chapter will feature exclusively about Asher and I thought it was a good idea, seeing as how bad guys RARELY get exposure.**

 **Also, for those of you still asking how the Shadowlands work, here's an explanation...**

 **When Tartarus fell due to Nyx's sealment, large debris flew and crashed into what is now known as the Shadowmountains. As it fell, time returned to it's original state. As it was in the process of falling, it created a rift in the space time continuum, much like the doors of the past in P3:FES the Answer.**

 **As always, review if you can, if not, whatever. Reading this means you like it and I like it when someone likes the story. Much appreciated** if you do review, however.


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